K6 Officer Ben Ricks

After being honorably discharged from the Army in 2006, I moved back to Utah and began POST training in January 2007. Once I completed the program, I began my career in law enforcement as a Corrections Officer with the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office. I worked for 1 ½ years in the jail before moving to the road as a Deputy, patrolling in Riverton, Kearns and Magna for nearly 3 years. In November 2010, I received a secondary assignment as an Explosives Odor Detection K9 Handler working with Baer, a 2 year old Belgian Malinois. After working with Baer for 8 months, I was transferred to Special Operations Division as the K9 unit’s newest handler. My partner is a 3 year old Belgian Malinois named Capone. He is a very social dog and adjusted well to my family. At home, he loves to nap in the shade and get his belly scratched. While at work, we train very hard spending hours working on his skills as an apprehension and narcotics detection K9.

I am fortunate to work with such passionate and skilled K9 handlers who continue to help me work towards my goal of being a successful handler with the Unified Police Department.