A Dog Like No Other: Bangor PD’s K9 ‘Jesi’ Stands Out From The Rest, For So Many Reasons!

She's a dog like no other: she's smaller, she's different, she's got a children's book all about her and she's the only "Single Purpose" K9 on the Bangor Police Force.

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Meet Jesi, the Bangor Police Department's first black lab K9 dogs on the force.

Aside from Jesi, the Bangor PD also has a couple of German Shepherds in their K9 Program. 

Jesi's handler/partner, Officer Lucas Libby says he was surprised at first that he wasn't given one of the big dogs, but instead was paired with this little black lab. But they've been together since she was 5 months old, back in 2019  and the duo has been together ever since.

According to the Bangor Police Department, Officer Libby and Jesi have developed quite the reputation around the region.

"Partly, this fame was garnered through their award-winning work in detection – locating evidence, suspects, and missing persons – twice being named K9 Detector of the Quarter by the United States Police Canine Association for Region 9. The pair have helped locate young children who have gone missing, an elderly woman with dementia, recover firearms that were discarded in the woods by suspects, and located suspects that have fled from police."

"On one call, Libby and Jesi assisted the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office looking for an armed suspect that fled – fleeing through someone’s house and eventually into the Penobscot River, where they were able to track him and apprehend him."

Jesi's notariety could also be in part to the fact that she had a book written about her, and more possible books in the works.

Officer Libby's wife, Jessica, thought people, especially kids, might benefit from knowing that despite how different someone feels, they still have great potential inside of them, and wrote a book about Jesi's story last year. You can read all about the “The Adventures of K-9 Jesi: Jesi’s First Day of School,” available for sale on Amazon.

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Authorities say that there are dozens of active K9 units working with law enforcement agencies across the state of Maine. These dogs and their handlers must undergo lengthy training sessions and meet very high standards to be considered ready to work in the field.

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The Bangor PD says it uses K9 units for tracking and apprehending suspects, to search buildings and for evidence recovery. They also use them for protection.