2 dogs added to Somerset County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit with $72K donation

SOMERVILLE – The Somerset County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit is expanding thanks to a $72,500 donation from two Bernardsville residents.

Recently, Somerset County Sheriff Darrin J. Russo thanked Dr. Caesar DePaço and Deanna Padovani-DePaço for their gift.

The donation will allow the K-9 unit to add two narcotic detection dogs along with the costs associated with the dogs’ training and their K-9 vehicles.

Sheriff’s Officer Michael Kromar and K-9 Casanova along with Correction’s Officer Daniel Soffer and K-9 Caesar are attending the Bergen County K-9 Academy and will be graduating later this year.

“There are a lot of people who support law enforcement in many ways. Caesar and Deanna have gone above and beyond in their support of police K-9 units across the state. Their generous donation today has been very instrumental in providing much needed services within the community while maintaining fiscal responsibility,” Russo said, as he presented the DePaço’s with honorary sheriff credentials, along with framed sheriff’s office uniform in a shadowbox.

“On behalf of all members of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Division, I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Caesar and Deanna Padovani-DePaço for their very substantial and generous donation. One of the donated K-9’s named Caesar will be the very first K-9 assigned to the Somerset County Jail and will become an essential part of our overall security and preventative safety efforts,” said Paul Kaminsky, warden of the Somerset County Jail.

K-9 unit Sgt. Shannon Snook said the K-9 unit will grow from three officers and four dogs to five officers and six dogs covering disciplines in narcotic scent detection, explosive scent detection, human scent detection, arson scent detection along with patrol capabilities.

In a surprise announcement, Caesar DePaço promised a donation of two additional police K-9s to the sheriff’s office in the future.

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2021 Caesar DePaço