About

Sgt. Frank Reda is an active 23 year law enforcement veteran who currently serves as the commanding Officer and trainer of his departments K9 Unit and has been an active K9 handler for over 21 years, Frank began working, breeding and training dogs since 1986, where he began competing in working events and achieved six Tri States champions with 4 different dogs with one titling as a National champion. His love for training working breeds translated into his police career which began in 1993, he is currently handling his third Dual purpose patrol and narcotics detection K9 and a single purpose Explosive detection K9.  Sgt. Reda has been a member of the Connecticut Police Work Dog association since 1998 and was elected to the CPWDA Board of Directors to serve as Vice-President of the Western Region in 2015. In 2021 he became President of the C.P.W.D.A.   Below is a partial list of accomplishments:

  National Police Canine Association certifying official and trainer in Patrol, Tracking , Narcotics and Explosive Detection

Vice-President of CT. Police Work Dog association (200+ K9 team members)

Head regional K9 trainer Fairfield County Region 3

K9 Subject Matter Expert for the Department of Homeland Security

Former President of CT K9 Club

Federal expert witness in narcotic detection

Certified Trainer for CT. Police Work Dog Association

Emergency Services Unit member

POST (police officer standards training) MOI instructor in K9 applications and use of force

Police Service Cross for K9 application

Courage of CT Award for K9 application

Officer of The Year  Award for K9 application

12 Certificates of Merit Commendations for K9 applications

Daniel Wasson Award Top CT K9 team (Twice)

Joint Task Force 6 Counter Drug School sponsored by 341st Training Squadron Lackland AFB

Winner of 2015 Western CT K9 Challenge

Sergeant James Antonelli has been involved in law enforcement since 1994 and has been a K-9 handler and CPWDA member since 2001.  Sergeant Antonelli became involved in police K-9 while working for the New Milford Police Department and handled two K-9’s for the agency.  In 2004 he transferred to the Danbury Police Department where he became actively involved in the K-9 Unit handling K-9 Britta for the agency.  He is a Lock- Up Police Combat Instructor and a Field Training Officer.  He holds a  Master’s Degree in Justice Administration and Crime Management and in December of 2009 was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.  In his career at both the Danbury Police Department as well as the New Milford Police Department he has received numerous departmental citations and commendations. Currently he coordinates monthly in-service training for Region 4, which includes K9 handlers throughout Fairfield and Litchfield Counties. Sergeant Antonelli was elected to the CPWDA Executive Board in 2017.

Officer David Peterson of the Norwalk Police Department has worked with the Norwalk Police Department since 2005.  He has been a member of CPWDA and NAPWDA since 2010, NPCA since 2011 and NNDDA since 2020. Officer Peterson has been  a member of the Norwalk Police K-9 Unit since 2007.  He began working with the Canine Unit as the Unit’s Decoy and Assistant Trainer, under Sergeant Frank Reda.

In March of 2012, He began working with Superior K9 Services with the development of green dogs and brand new handlers.  He has conducted several K-9 Instructor Courses, that are devised of 10 weeks and 400 hours. These classes are focused on the development of dogs and their handlers, in the area of Detection, Tracking, and Patrol. He has assisted in training over 40 dogs, all of which are now certified in either Patrol and Narcotics or Explosives.  He presently leads the Southwest Region 7 bi-annual, monthly training. These trainings consists of over 20 dogs and involved as a trainer for several CPWDA events over the past several years.

Officer Peterson’s current partner is a 3 year old, all Black German Shepherd, Nova. PSD Nova is certified in Narcotics, Tracking, Patrol and has been serving with the Norwalk Police Department for 2 years.  Officer David Peterson first partner, PSD Rainor (retired) were the 1st runners up for the prestigious Daniel Wasson Memorial K9 award in 2014.  Officer David Peterson and PSD Rainor were also selected by FLEOA for “K-9 Heroes” of 2014, where they were honored inside Fenway Park.  PSD Rainor served for the Norwalk Police Department for 9 years before retirement.

Officer Peterson was elected to the CPWDA Executive Board in 2017.  Officer David Peterson is a Certifying Official with NPCA, NNDDA and CPWDA certifying over 50 Teams Bi-annually for Detection, Tracking and Patrol.

Todd Mona graduated the CSP K9 Academy In 2006 for patrol work with his first dog K9 Primo.  They went on to join CPWDA in 2007 where they were the Daniel Wasson Memorial award winner twice and runner up once.  The team also won numerous awards at the Connecticut Police K9 Olympics to include 1st and 3rd place finishes along with top awards for obedience, tactical obedience and criminal apprehension over their career.  Primo was stabbed several times in 2009 in his back and head.  He was able to make a full recovery after several months and return to full duty until retiring in 2015.  During their tenure they logged over 2000 training hours including tactical swat school, high risk deployment school, tracking seminars, perimeter containment’s and decoy school.  Primo had over 125 tracking finds and building search finds during his career.  In 2014 Todd Mona achieved his Maintenance Trainer certification in which he hosted his first patrol class in 2015 and founded the ‘Capital Region K9 Academy’.  Mona also bred, selected and raised a puppy from a litter to be his new partner in the class.  K9 Casus Belli has since gone on to win numerous awards at the Cabelas K9 competition, Dreamride K9 competition,  Connecticut Police K9 Olympics and second runner up to the Daniel Wasson Memorial award.   In 2016 Mona hosted his second patrol class and in 2016 hosted a three day building search class.  In 2018 Mona crossed trained Casus in gun detection work through M/T Scribner.  Mona has assisted M/T Scribner in several patrol/narcotics classes in the past few years.  Mona has logged to date through 2019 over 2500 training hours with his second dog and currently in the process of testing for trainer through NAPWDA.  Casus has over 50 finds on tracks and building searches to date as well as locating 5 stolen firearms. Officer Mona became C.P.W.D.A. North East Vice-president in 2021

Sergeant Garrett Kruger is an active 16 year law enforcement veteran who currently serves as the commanding officers for his departments six dog K9 unit.  He has been working with the K9 Unit since 2007 as a decoy and started working his first dual purpose patrol canine in 2012.  In 2018 he started working two canines, the dual purpose patrol canine and a second explosive detection Labrador.  In 2020 his first patrol dog was retired and a second was trained in dual purpose patrol work.  He currently works two canines for his department.

Sergeant Kruger has been the recipient of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association “K9 Hero’s” award in 2014 for a K9 application and Officer of the year in 2009.  He received the Police Service Cross award in 2011, eight Officer of the Month awards, seven Meritorious Commendation Awards, two MADD Awards, 2008 Courage of Connecticut Award, 2011 United States Attorney Award, 2008 and 2011 Distinguished Service Awards, and 2019 Hope Foundation Community Service Award.  He currently is certified through the FBI Methods of Instruction class and Connecticut POSTC to teach in K9 Deployments and Perimeters, Motor Vehicle Stops, Use of Force Instructor. Taser Instructor, Less Lethal Instructor, and Defense Technologies Instructor in chemical, impact and aerosol munitions.

Sergeant Kruger has been a CPWDA member since 2012 and has served as the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Secretary since 2021.

Officer Daniel Lane was hired onto the Waterford Police Department in March of 2000 and is currently assigned to the patrol division.  In November 2001 Officer Lane became a K9 handler working with his first partner K9 “Czar”.  Czar was retired in March 2003 for medical issues and was replaced by K9 “Blitz”. During this time Officer Lane and K9 Blitz were recognized as runners up for the Daniel Wasson award in 2004 and 2005 for outstanding K9 deployments. In October 2010 K9 Blitz gracefully retired and Officer Lane was paired with his third partner K9 “Ike” who is currently active.

In addition to Officer Lane’s K9 role, he has contributed to various special assignments at the Waterford Police Department, including the Field Training Officer role and Crisis Intervention Team.

In 2005, Officer Lane took an interest in becoming a trainer for the North American Police Work Dog Association (NAPWDA).  In June 2009 he successfully completed requirements to become a certified trainer in narcotics and patrol.  This was achieved through extensive critique hours from Master Trainers and required successful completion of both written and oral board exams.  Continuing on this path, Officer Lane accumulated ongoing critic hours over an additional three year period to obtain his Master Trainer certification this November 2012.

As a NAPWDA trainer, Officer Lane conducts bi-monthly K9 maintenance training for 14+ K9 teams in Southeastern CT and supports local departments in selection and initial training required to deploy new teams. He is very focused on continuous improvement and regularly organizes focused training groups, covering various aspects of K9 utilization and safety.  Officer Lane has been a member of the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association since 2002 and was elected as C.P.W.D.A. President in 2015. In 2021 he took the position on South East Vice-President.

Officer Felicia Figol has been a police officer with the Newtown Police Department since 2004. Prior to her service with Newtown she was an Arizona State Trooper for 6.5 years. Officer Figol has been a K-9 handler since 2010 and has handled three police K9’S, K9 Aris, K9 Baro and K9 Saint Michael and has certified her K9’S in Patrol and Narcotics. In 2019 she was named the Connecticut Law Enforcement Officer of the Year for “exceptional service” by The American Legion, Department of Connecticut. Officer Figol also received a formal citation from the Connecticut General Assembly, honoring her for her police work.  She is a field training officer, a certified police instructor, and a crisis intervention officer. Officer Figol founded and runs the Western Connecticut K-9 Challenge, a competition for police dogs and their handlers. The officer also runs a program designed for females age 15 and up called “Escape Alive,” which is geared to demonstrating self-defense techniques. She has been involved in Crime Prevention and the Explorer Program in Newtown and is a strong supporter of Telecommunicators. Officer Figol was elected Treasurer of the C.P.W.D.A. in 2023.

Deputy Sheriff Eric Minix, 31, was killed while on duty on 1/4/24 in Alabama at the end of high speed chase on Interstate 85 at 11:55 P.M.. Alabama Officers put stop sticks out to stop the speeding vehicle. Minix stopped behind the car he was chasing. Once that happened, Minix stepped out of the car, a 2017 Dodge Charger. A Lanett, Alabama police officer, Cornelius Robinson 28, struck him after Minix got out of his car to approach the stolen vehicle that had led the chase across state lines. Robinson came on the scene and could not stop in time before hitting the Coweta deputy. Minix had been chasing a stolen 2022 Dodge Challenger out of Douglas County. He was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The suspect, Decedric Vonche Donson, 25, of Pensacola, Fla. driver in the chase is charged with felony first degree receiving stolen property and felon attempting to elude. At least seven law enforcement agencies were assisting in apprehending the subject, who was driving a stolen vehicle. The subject was arrested and is waiting charges. The Alabama officer was placed on administrative leave and an investigation is pending. The deputy’s K-9 partner was on scene, but not injured in the incident. Minix joined the Coweta force first in 2014, then joined the Tyrone Police Department for several years before coming back to the Coweta force. He was with the Crime Suppression Unit in the sheriff’s office. The deputy leaves behind his wife Trina and three daughters, Annalee, Adelynn and Harper. Donations can be made to Georgia Police K9 Foundation at GApolicek9foundation.org or Concerns of Police Survivors at Gacops.org

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