In May 2018 a group of citizens came together to form the
Coalinga PD K-9 Supporters, with a mission to fund raise the money needed to
purchase a new K-9 for the Coalinga Police Department. Over the following year
this group worked hard raising donations from citizens, business and
participating in just about every city event that was held.
During the past year the police department tested for the K-9 Officer Position,
Officer Francisco Ybarra was selected for the position. Officer Ybarra showed
he had the ability to learn and had the drive to be a K-9 officer. Once Officer
Ybarra was selected he worked very hard obtaining donations for the program.
Officer Ybarra showed that he was the right person for the position when he
began visiting the training center where the Coalinga Police Department
was considering purchasing the dog from. Officer Ybarra began training with a
couple of different dogs and once he met “ELI” the new partnership was born.
“ELI” is a 1 year old Belgian Malinois. He is extremely friendly but knows when
given the proper command it is time to go to work. The team was recently
P.O.S.T. certified and will soon be on patrol. Eli is a dual purpose dog,
which means he will be certified in narcotics detection and handler protection,
ELI will also be trained to track people in case someone comes up missing.
The CPD K-9 Supporters goals are to fund the annual operating budget of the CPD
K9 unit and to continue fund raising to start a second canine unit, but until
then Officer Ybarra and “ELI” will work patrol handling their calls for service
and locating narcotics. Be sure to watch for the CPD K-9 Supporters fundraising
events other local happenings where you can often see Officer Ybarra and ELI
giving a demonstration of their skills.