PASADENA, California — The Pasadena Police Department is recognizing the retirement of K-9 Edo after more than seven years of service while welcoming K-9 Seeka, a new tracking and trailing dog now training with the department, according to a City of Pasadena news release.

The city said Edo officially retired on May 4, 2026. He was paired with Officer Daniel Velasquez in March 2019 after transitioning from a military assignment with Army Special Forces.

Edo’s service included deployments, apprehensions and community events

During his Pasadena Police Department career, Edo’s listed accomplishments included 47 community service events, 338 deployments, 15 suspect give-ups, four suspect apprehensions and more than $300,000 in seized currency, according to the city release.

“Edo’s contributions to the Pasadena Police Department extend far beyond statistics,” Chief Gene Harris said in the city release. “He served with courage, professionalism, and unwavering dedication. We are grateful for his years of service alongside Officer Velasquez and wish him a happy and well-deserved retirement.”

Seeka begins training for missing-person and tracking work

As Edo retires, Pasadena Police introduced K-9 Seeka, a one-and-a-half-year-old female black Labrador Retriever who has already begun training with Officer Velasquez.

The city said Seeka is training to become a California certified tracking and trailing dog. Once certified, her role is expected to include helping locate critical missing adults and children, as well as suspects who have fled crime scenes.

“The Pasadena Police Department looks forward to Seeka’s continued training and certification,” Chief Harris said in the release. “Her work will play a vital role in helping us locate missing persons, support investigations, and provide another valuable resource for our officers and the community we serve.”

Pasadena also said the department plans agency-wide training in July focused on human odor detection and best practices for tracking and trailing deployments, with updated policies related to those operations forthcoming.

For ThinBlueNews readers, the story carries two community-friendly angles at once: a retiring police K-9 whose work included enforcement and public outreach, and a new Labrador expected to focus on finding missing people and supporting investigations.

Sources reviewed

Editorial note: ThinBlueNews used the official city release and official source photos. This article avoids adding unverified operational details, avoids private or sensitive incident claims, and uses no AI-generated law-enforcement imagery. No paid promotion, DMs or outbound messages were used.