Holden, Maine Police Department Has A New K-9 Unit With A Very Special Name

It was two years this past March, when the Town of Holden lost its beloved Police Chief, Chris Greeley, who died unexpectedly at the age of 60.

Greeley, with his larger-than-life personality and even bigger smile, was the driving force behind Holden's "25 Days of Kindness" campaign, known throughout the region.

The program has grown, leaps and bounds, to become so much more than 25 days under the leadership of Chief Eddie Benjamin, Greeley's 2nd in command, who took over for him when he passed.

Helping to keep his legacy to not just 'protect' but also to 'serve' the community, the members of Holden's Police Department have been working hard to both keep their community safe, but also help it thrive and become even better through acts of kindness, aid, and charitable donations.

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While Greeley's spirit permeates throughout the town, the residents of Holden, along with it's police force, now have an even more evident reminder of a man who did so much for the area.

The Holden Police Department announced this week that they have a new addition to their department, a new K-9 unit with a very special name.

"We are thrilled to announce that K-9 Greeley and Officer Christian completed the 14-week K-9 school at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy. "

Holden Police Lt. Andy Whitehouse says he, along with Chief Benjamin and K-9 Handler Officer Hunter Christian, came up with the idea of naming the pup Greeley, after Chris.

"We thought that it would be nice to name the dog Greeley after Chief Greeley. It was kind of ironic because Christian, which was Chris's real name, is the handler. Before we did it, we did clear it with Donna [Chris Greeley's wife], and she loved the idea. So that's how we got Greeley."

Lt. Whitehouse says this has been a project that has been a year in the making. Chief Benjamin applied for a grant last year through an organization in New Hampshire, and Holden PD was awarded the grant.

"The grant paid for outfitting a cruiser. It paid for training. It paid for the dog and will continue to pay some expenses for the next year."

Greeley, the K-9, is a little over one year old and is a mix of German Shepard and Belgian Malinois. He was born in Hungary and traveled to Florida.

"He was hand-selected for us by the Maine State Police K-9 team. They went down and brought him back. And he's been with us since about March. We send Hunter and the dog to the Maine State Police K-9 Academy, which is about 14 weeks of training. And he's now certified as a police K-9 Patrol dog."

Lt. Whitehouse says Holden PD partnered with Maine Vest-a-dog, a non-profit whose goal is to "protect law enforcement K-9 units with bullet/stab protective vests across the State of Maine."

He says they're outfitting K-9 Greeley with a very special vest.

"His bullet-proof vest is actually going to say 'In memory of Chris Greeley' on it."

Whitehouse says both the Holden Town Council and the citizens of the town have been very supportive of the initiative to get K-9 Greeley certified and put him to work.

As a patrol K-9, Lt. Whitehouse says Greeley will help the Holden PD with search and rescue efforts.

"He's a patrol K-9, so he's able to search for bad guys, but also search for missing persons. He can locate articles. He can do tracks for us, and also he can do apprehension."

Lt. Whitehouse says in about a year, Holden PD will send Officer Christian and K-9 Greeley back to the training facility to get certified as a drug dog.

"The plan is to a lot more drug enforcement on 1-A."

Whitehouse says he thinks the pair is going to make a great team.

Knowing the late Chief Greeley for many years, and that he grew up on a farm and absolutely loved animals and his job, I think he'd be delighted with Officer Christian and K-9 Greeley.

Congratulations, Officer Christian, K-9 Greeley, and the Town Of Holden.