Hazard Police add K9 Tia for drug detection and search efforts

Hazard police added a new patrol tool with practical value well beyond the ceremonial introduction: K9 Tia and handler Lucas Davis were on the job after several weeks of training in Texas, giving the department a dog trained first for narcotics detection and also suited for search work across Perry County.

Chief Zach Miller said the department obtained Tia through a grant from the nonprofit K9s.org, a break that kept the city from having to absorb the full cost of buying and training the dog. Tia’s primary assignment is drug detection, a role aimed squarely at the traffic stops, search warrants and interdiction cases that local officers handle in Hazard and throughout the county.

The dog’s second function may prove just as important in a place where severe weather and rough terrain can quickly turn a search into a race against time. Miller said Tia can also help locate missing people, a capability that carries clear weight in Perry County after the July 2022 eastern Kentucky floods, when state officials asked families in Perry and nearby counties to report missing loved ones through Kentucky State Police Post 13 in Hazard and outside search teams, including search dogs, assisted responders here.

The new K9 unit also fits into an existing police structure that already includes a school resource officer, a uniform detective, an evidence team and two officers assigned to drug task forces. County records show Hazard Police has 22 officers and one canine officer, so Tia adds another layer to a department already using specialized assignments to cover schools, narcotics enforcement and investigative work.

Tia was introduced publicly at Grand Park on April 27 before being announced by the department on April 29. That timing matters because this is not just a symbolic addition. K9s.org said it was placing 15 grant-funded dogs across three states in the first quarter of 2026, and its restricted sponsorships start at $50,000, with donations able to be directed to a specific agency. In Hazard, that outside support now translates into a working dog, a trained handler and one more resource for the kind of emergencies that can unfold fast in Perry County.