Meet Maverick

Man’s Best Friend is a True Detective

F irst glance at this beautiful Dutch Shepherd and you are awed by his playfulness, but when it comes to duty time, Detective Maverick is a canine that is more than man’s best friend.

Maverick is the first canine in the brand new K9 Unit that is part of the Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office and hails all the way from the state of Wisconsin, where his owners reside and have donated his services to the community they once served in as officers.

Deputy Michael Hefton, Maverick’s handler and nearly six-year officer of the Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office, traveled to Wisconsin and trained with Maverick and his owners before returning to Dougherty County and swearing in this black beauty. A native of Dougherty County and graduate of Albany High School, Hefton trained for five weeks and said the owners paid for all the training and travel as well.

At the top of his class of K9’s, Hefton said that Maverick is an incredible part of the Sheriff’s Office in tracking missing people, especially juveniles and elderly, weapons, bombs and other explosives, and many other items. He will also help Hefton in better patrolling all downtown Government buildings and helping to keep these buildings safe for both employees, visitors and the community.

With the increase of elderly population in our community suffering with Alzheimer’s and Dementia, having a K9 like Maverick to scout out potential locations for lost individuals is an asset to our community.

The Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office K9 Unit has been operational now for almost one month and is just one of the many ways that we are helping to keep our County and community a safer place to live and work. We welcome Maverick to the team and thank Deputy Hefton for his continued work for the K9 Unit!