Palm Springs welcomes new K-9

The Palm Springs Police Department welcomed a new officer Tuesday.

“Boomer” is an 18-month-old labrador retriever, hailing from the state of Washington.

Officer Marcus Litch began patrolling with his new partner Boomer at the Palm Springs International Airport. It was the same day security around PSP was heightened for the departure of President Barack Obama and the leaders of 10 Southeast Asian countries, who were attending the ASEAN Summit at Sunnylands, in Rancho Mirage.

Officer Litch and Boomer have completed an extensive, six week training program and are now certified in explosive detection. Boomer was trained to detect 23 explosive odors, and is Litch’s first canine.

Litch has been in law enforcement for over 10 years.

“I have had Boomer for seven weeks,” said Litch, “and it has been great getting to learn together, while learning to work and live with each other.”