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Rock Island Police's new K-9 officially has his name

The department took name suggestions from the community and received over 1,300 submissions.

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ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — The Rock Island Police Department officially has a name for their newest K-9 officer. Blue Bowman will be joining the force after he finishes his training.

Officer Alex Bowman, Blue's handler, revealed the name at the Rock Island City Council meeting on Monday, March 11. The department took name suggestions for the K-9 online, and police officials said they received 1,313 submissions. After accounting for duplicate suggestions, there were 730 unique names to pick from. From there, police officers whittled the list down to ten finalists, and Officer Bowman's daughters got the final say.

Blue is still in training and won't be hitting the streets just yet. In the meantime, he's staying with Officer Bowman's family while off-duty.

Here's another look at the moment Officer Alex Bowman revealed the winning name of the Rock Island Police Department's new K-9 during last night's city council meeting. Please welcome K-9 Officer Blue to the department! Between the City and Police Department's Facebook pages, 1,313 names were submitted. After removing duplicates, we had about 720 unique names. Thank you for your enthusiasm and warm embrace of our new K-9 officer. Blue will officially join the force after he completes training at Cedar Creek Kennels in Monmouth. 🐕‍🦺 #k9 #policedog
Posted by City of Rock Island Government on Tuesday, March 12, 2024

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