K-9 Units

The Vernon Hills Police Department has been very fortunate and proud to have a K-9 Unit.  In January, 2009, we retired one K-9 officer, so now we have a unit of one.

Since the middle of 1999, Bullet patrolled the streets of Vernon Hills with his handler, Officer Vince Utter. Bullet is a 90-pound purebred German shepherd with sable coloring. He was born on September 24, 1997. Officer Utter started with the Vernon Hills Police Department in 1994.   Bullet retired after 10 years of service and went home permanently with Officer Utter.  Bullet's last duty day was January 16, 2009.

Our other K-9, Storm, has been on patrol since December 2001. Storm is a black & tan German shepherd. He was born on September 18, 1999 and he weighs about 100 pounds. Storm's handler is Officer Bill Heelan, who has been with the department since 1989.

Storm is trained to search for lost/missing people, search for suspects who have fled or are concealed, locate drugs, and, of course, protect his handler, Officer Heelan. 

Watch for the K-9 Unit squad car around Vernon Hills. You will be able to recognize it by the red "Caution K-9" lettering on the rear side windows of the squad. Also, keep in mind that our K-9 Unit does demonstrations at schools and at our open house. These are great opportunities to see the K-9 in action.

The following photographs of Bullet and Storm were taken at the 2006 Vernon Hills Police Department open house. The gentleman the dogs are attacking is a skilled professional police K-9 trainer from TOPS Canine Complex. TOPS Training trains the VHPD dogs, and many other police dogs. As you can see, he is wearing a special bite-proof suit for the demonstration. Remember that the police K-9's are highly trained and they will only attack either on command from the handler or when they believe that their handler is being harmed.