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.
