Alpharetta Officer Named Vice President Of Police K9 Foundation

ALPHARETTA, GA — The Georgia Police K9 Foundation recently announced Officer Phil Ritchey has been named vice president of the nonprofit devoted to assisting active and retired law enforcement K9s in the state of Georgia.

Ritchey started his career at the Cordele Police Department. After a year, and wanting to move closer to family, he began working for the Alpharetta Police Department in 2006. Ritchey worked in patrol, served as a motor officer in the traffic unit, was the Youth Officer and served on the Alpharetta PAL (Police Athletic League) board. Ritchey now serves as a K9 officer in the Community Service Unit with a single purpose (narcotics) well-loved 4-year-old, 36 pound black Labrador Retriever named K9 Raider.

“We are excited to have Officer Ritchey join us as Vice President of the Board," Georgia Police K9 Foundation President Kyle Briley said. "With his experience, he will definitely bring value to assisting the foundation in many ways."

Ritchey joins the board in an effort to raise awareness of the infinite contributions of K9s throughout Georgia. Chances are that everyone’s life has been impacted by a K9 in some manner throughout their life, and they do not even realize it. Before attending sporting events, concerts or large functions, explosive detection K9s sweep the areas to ensure a safer environment for those in attendance. K9s are important in communities by locating/detecting illegal narcotics or engaging in the most dangerous situations, while dealing with the most violent offenders. The dogs are asked to engage in situations most people would not. Not only do law enforcement K9s assist by enforcing the laws; they also assist with locating a missing child or elderly person.

“I’m very impressed with how the foundation has helped so many canines and I want to help spread the word in the North Georgia area,” Ritchey said.

The Georgia Police K9 Foundation is an all volunteer 501(c)3 non-profit whose first and foremost concern comes down to a simple saying, “It’s all about the dog.” The foundation has raised over $124,000 to assist in protecting as many of Georgia’s four legged officers as possible by providing them with safety equipment, such as, bullet-proof vests, heat alarm systems, and Naloxone (Narcan Kits) in the event a K9 is directly exposed to any opioids during a search and seizure.

Once a K9 has retired, the handler will adopt their K9 partner and best friend. In the absence of state or local retirement benefits for the K9s, the Foundation will help provide retirement support (food and medical care) for the retired law enforcement K9s, who have unconditionally served their communities for years. To date, the Georgia Police K9 Foundation has provided 57+ K9 protection vests, 17 heat alarms, 30 Narcan kits, 15 first aid kits, 10 retirement plaques, 20+ retired K9s have been assisted, and 100+ Ttraining equipment, seminars, and trainings were supplied to numerous K9 teams across the state of Georgia.

For more information about the Georgia Police K9 Foundation, the website is www.gpk9f.org.