City of Santa Rosa, CA, CivicReady Public Safety Alerts & Notifications

SRPD News Release: K9 Ghost receives special recognition from Congressman Mike Thompson.

1/16/2024 - 9:49 AM

K9 Ghost receives special recognition from Congressman Mike Thompson.

On Sunday, January 14, 2024, Santa Rosa Police Department (SRPD) K9 Ghost was honored by Congressman Mike Thompson during his annual “Public Safety Heroes Reception” in Vallejo. Rep. Thompson (CA-04). Each year, Rep. Thompson honors public safety heroes throughout California’s 4th Congressional District. Rep. Thompson, Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, added a special award for law enforcement K9, choosing Ghost for his success in removing illegally possessed firearms from our community. Rep. Thompson presented a Congressional Record certificate to each recipient, including Ghost, which was permanently memorialized in the congressional record. Ghost was also presented with a congressional dog collar and personalized dog tag, which he proudly accepted.

Ghost, a 2-year-old Belgian Malinois, has attended a 240-hour Police K9 patrol tactic school and a 200-hour Police K9 firearm detection school. Additionally, Ghost receives “on-the-job training” daily, and regularly trains with other SRPD K9s and K9 teams throughout the region.

Ghost and his partner, SRPD Officer Aaron Gonzales-Campos, have removed 13 illegally possessed firearms from our community. In addition to the efforts of this dynamic duo, officers throughout SRPD seized over 255 illegally possessed firearms from the streets of Santa Rosa in 2023.

The Santa Rosa Police Department is incredibly proud of the continued work of Ghost and Officer Gonzales-Campos in the reduction of gun violence in the City of Santa Rosa. SRPD also wishes to thank Rep. Mike Thompson for his continued efforts in gun violence reduction and continued support of our agency’s work to accomplish the same. 

Media inquiries can be made to Sgt. Patricia Seffens, Public Information Officer, at 707-543-3634 or pseffens@srcity.org.