President of FLECA– Justin Rigney
Justin Rigney has been a Law Enforcement Officer for 15 years. He and his recently retired K-9 partner “Bosko” have been a team with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office for seven years. During this time they have been responsible for hundreds of arrests and apprehensions of violent felony offenders and he has been instrumental in the recovery of numerous articles of valuable evidence. Post retirement, Bosko obtained his Brevet in French Ring Sport. Justin begins a new chapter in his career with K-9 “Zeke”. Zeke is a 3 year old GSD who has been raised from a puppy by Justin and is showing great potential as a police service dog. Justin is a Corporal and trainer for his agency, who has 60 dogs department wide. Justin is a former member of the Davie Police Department and their K-9 unit where he was the handler for K-9 “Vader”; who was produced from his own breeding program. Justin has been training dogs professionally for nearly 25 years and is the head trainer for K-9 Services Unlimited LLC. (www.k9servicesunlimited.com) During his professional dog training career he has trained with hundreds of Police K-9 teams, competed in Schutzhund, Ring Sport and other dog sports. He has also trained dogs for celebrities, professional athletes and thousands of pet dog owners. Justin has recently graduated and been awarded a diploma in the NePoPo Gold training system, the modern language of dog training by Bart Bellon. Justin is currently the President of the Florida Law Enforcement Canine Associatio and was one of the founding members. He is also a judge and instructor for FLEC. Justin has recently been retained as an expert witness in K-9 training and deployment, which marks a new chapter in his career. He has had the opportunity to certify and train hundreds of Police K-9 teams. Justin continually pursues further knowledge of dog training in many different applications by training with some of the top canine trainers in the world.
Director of Standards & Training– Chad Bishop
Chad Bishop has been a Police Officer for the Town of Davie Police Department, in South Florida, since 1997. Chad has been working and training patrol and detection dogs since 2002. He is a certified State of Florida FDLE K-9 Team Instructor. Chad has trained over 60 K-9 teams in South Florida and currently acts as an instructor and coordinator in weekly K-9 patrol and detection training for several surrounding police agencies (Broward, Dade and Palm Beach Counties). He has trained hundreds of teams during K-9 seminars conducted throughout the South East United States and is currently working his third patrol dog.
Trainer– Tommy Willcox
Tommy Willcox has been a Law Enforcement Officer for 19 years. Tommy started his canine career in the United States Air Force where he worked a dog for four years. He is currently in his 13th year working a dog for the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office. Tommy is a lead trainer for his agency that has a nine-dog unit. Tommy specializes in tactical dog training to include helicopter deployments, tactical tracking, vehicle, building, and area clearing with a focus on big and small team tactics. Tommy designs and teaches how to integrate K-9 into SWAT teams, specifically for individual agencies. As an assistant team leader for his SWAT team and a dog handler, he has experienced and understands both sides. Tommy and his SWAT team have had many successful high-risk K-9 deployments.
Tommy is a certifying official and instructor for the Florida Law Enforcement Canine Association. He is the owner of Top Dog Tactical and can be reached by email tommy@topdogtactical.com or by text 352-727-0075