DENVER, Colorado — Two RTD Transit Police K-9 teams were honored after officials said their detection work helped partner agencies during two separate Denver-area investigations.

RTD-Denver reported that officers Corey Averill with K-9 Milo and Jesse Robinson with K-9 Reign were recognized by the National Police Canine Association during a June 17 award ceremony.

Two K-9 assists, two public-safety cases

According to RTD, Averill and Milo assisted the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 21, 2025, after investigators were searching for a firearm discharged inside a residence. RTD said Milo located the weapon within three minutes and also found a firearm holster in a separate location inside the residence.

Five days later, RTD said Robinson and Reign assisted the Cherry Hills Police Department with an arson investigation along the Highline Canal Trail. Reign alerted his handler to a powdery substance that officials said proved critical in identifying explosive materials.

RTD reported that the detection prompted the case to be escalated to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and that the investigation ultimately uncovered significant explosive materials at the suspect’s home. ThinBlueNews is keeping the wording tightly attributed to RTD and is not adding unsourced case details.

“Both incidents involved our K-9 teams assisting law enforcement agencies throughout the Denver metropolitan area that do not have explosive detection canine resources,” RTD Chief of Police and Emergency Management Steve Martingano said in the agency release.

Specialized teams serving beyond the transit system

RTD said Averill and Milo received an NPCA quarterly award for the firearm detection. Robinson and Reign received the NPCA Northwest Region Detection Case of the Quarter Award for the fourth quarter of 2025.

The agency said Milo and Reign are two of four RTD Transit Police K-9 units funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The dogs are trained to detect explosives, provide patrol coverage across RTD’s 2,349-square-mile district and assist other agencies that request their specialized capabilities.

For Support Law Enforcement readers, the RTD recognition is a reminder that K-9 work is not only about patrol visibility. In these cases, officials credited the teams with finding evidence and explosive materials that other agencies needed specialized resources to locate safely.

Sources reviewed

Editorial note: ThinBlueNews used RTD’s official release and a real RTD source photo with attribution. The article avoids unsourced allegations and does not use staged or AI-generated police/K-9 imagery.