Partners in CRIME FIGHT

But Constable Cedeno believed – like all K9 police officers believe – that he had the best canine partnership.

“I feel like I’m on top of Mt Everest when I’m with Jed,” Cedeno always said. Cedeno never stopped smiling once Jed, a ball of black and white fur, bolted from the Caroni K9 kennels in search of his yellow tennis ball. Their partnership would earn accolades never before garnered in the 65-year history of the K9 branch.

On Carnival Monday, February 27, Cedeno, who lived in Point Fortin, died in a vehicular accident on the Solomon Hochoy Highway. Just two weeks ago he spoke about his four-year partnership with nine-year-old Jed, a far cry from those intimidating German Shepherds or brutish Belgian Malinois in the K9 division.

“It’s about the nose, not the dog’s size, and Jed has a good nose. I’m not intimidated by the big dogs. They’re intimidated by Jed,” he said nodding. “Jed puts most of those young guys (dogs) in the shade.” Cedeno teamed up with Jed in the K9 Explosives Detection unit in 2013 when his Golden Retriever, Sparky retired and Jed had no handler.

“Officers said Jed was a funny dog, unsociable.

He didn’t get along with people.

But he got along with me. Almost immediately we formed a close bond. From then to now, we have been inseparable,” said Cedeno.

Cedeno quickly noted Jed’s eagerness to please, his drive and total concentration when working. “He’s easy going, playful, but very committed to the task at hand.” He worried about Jed’s heart condition, an irregular heartbeat. “But it never kept Jed back,” he said. Once, they answered a call about explosives in an abandoned car, and Jed found a grenade in an abandoned area in St Augustine.

They conducted routine checks for explosives in various venues from fetes to cricket games and accompanied police on exercises with Jed wearing his harness marked “police”.

Cedeno had worked in the police explosives unit for his entire ten-year service in the K9 branch. With Jed, Cedeno never worried about his safety. “I totally trust Jed, and he totally trusts me.

He understands I’m not leaving him, and I know he’s not leaving me. I trust him more than a person. If Jed tells me there’s something suspicious, an explosive, and someone says there’s nothing there, I’m going with the dog.” The highlight of their partnership was working alongside the former US vice president’s security detail when Joe Biden visited Trinidad on May 29, 2013. They did advance security checks of venues and route sweeps, checking the route where the former VP had to pass, from the airport to Port-of-Spain. In the end, the Secret Service gave Cedeno and Jed an unprecedented honour: Secret Service medals for outstanding service. Cedeno kept those medals in his locker at the Caroni K9 Branch.

“Every time I open the locker those medals inspire me,” said Cedeno, proudly displaying his medals while Jed ran around the grounds searching for his tennis ball.

Cedeno’s death left K9 officers stunned.

“I had him down to become an instructor in the near future because I saw he had a natural ability with dogs,” said Snr Supt Patsy Joseph, head of the Mounted and Canine Branch.

Retired K9 officer Jairaj Looknanan knew Cedeno since he joined the K9 unit in 2007. “He was quiet, soft-spoken and articulate – a real worker and excellent dog handler,” he said.

“We will remember the laughter, the commitment and the affection for his job,” said Sgt Rakesh Beepot of the K9 branch.

Seeing Cedeno and Jed together could only be described as pure joy. Jed will attend Cedeno’s funeral at Revival Time Assembly, San Fernando on Tuesday.