K-9 Units

The Vernon Hills Police Department is very fortunate and proud to have two K-9 Units on the department.

Since the middle of 1999, Bullet has 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.

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 100 pounds. Storm's handler is Officer Bill Heelan, who has been with the department since 1989.

Both Storm and Bullet are trained to search for lost/missing people, search for suspects who have fled or are concealed, locate drugs, and, of course, protect their handlers. There are several advantages to having two K-9 Units. One big benefit is that it ensures that there is almost always a canine unit on duty every evening. It also makes it easier when a request for a K-9 is received from another police agency, which happens fairly frequently.

Watch for the K-9 Unit squad cars around Vernon Hills. You will be able to recognize them by the red "Caution K-9" lettering on the rear side windows of the squad. Also, keep in mind that our K-9 Units do demonstrations at the Summer Celebration and at our open house. These are great opportunities to see the K-9's 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.