HomeMy WebLinkAboutK-9 Rico Passes Away voLICk, Tigard Police Department
e. NEWS RELEASE
TIGARD
OR 13125 SW Hall Boulevard, Tigard, Oregon 97223 • www.tigard-or.gov/police
APRIL 16, 2026
CONTACT:
Kelsey Anderson, TPD Public Information Officer
Phone: 971-708-2921, Email: Kelsey.Anderson@tigard-or.gov
K-9 RICO PASSES AWAY
The Tigard Police Department is sad to share that K-9 Rico passed away recently, after
nine years of service to the community.
Rico celebrated his 10th birthday earlier this year, and due to
his age, he was expected to retire from police work in July.
However, his health took a sudden turn for the worst and he
died on Tuesday, April 7.
Rico arrived at the Tigard Police Department in April 2017 as a 4$
15-month-old puppy. He completed 400 hours of training with 4
the Oregon Police Canine Association and worked with two
handlers over the course of his career, Officer Rivera (2017-
2020) and Officer Suyama (2020-Present). A
Over the course of his career, Rico worked nearly 3,000 hours 40
(2,965) searching for criminal suspects, articles of evidence, iki
missing people or in training. He worked on more than 1,000
(1,049) police calls, including 392 tracks, he found 121 articles of evidence, completed
116 building searches and helped capture 114 criminal suspects. In addition to
supporting Tigard patrol officers, he also helped on police calls for neighboring
agencies throughout his career.
With K-9 Rico's passing, we now have two K-9s, Cooper and Ranum. As of now, we plan
to continue supporting patrol operations with our two K-9s and do not plan on replacing
Rico.
His personality, energy, love for playtime, devotion to his handlers and connection with
the Tigard community will be deeply missed. A video of K-9 Rico over the years is
available here: https://youtu.be/6hHUZgozi71.
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