City council recognizes WPD sergeant, K-9 officer for excellence

Worthington Police Department Sgt. Bryant Schroeder and K-9 Skol were recognized for their recent award-winning excellence during Monday's Worthington City Council meeting. 

Each quarter, the United States Police Canine Association recognizes the dangerous and difficult work of members with a Case of the Quarter Award. At the end of the year, the four Case of Quarter Award winners face off for the Case of the Year award. For the first quarter of 2026, Schroeder and Skol have been awarded with the Regional and National Case of the Quarter awards.

According to a police department memorandum included in Monday's council packet, Schroeder and Skol were working a night shift for the WPD on Feb. 2. Schroeder conducted a routine traffic stop of a vehicle for minor violations as it pulled into a local gas station. He suspected serious illegal activities were at hand and, because of the circumstances, asked for but was denied permission to conduct a consent search of the vehicle. It was, however, appropriate, and there was cause, for K9 Skol to do an external sniff of the vehicle.

Skol had a very strong alert to the bottom of the passenger side seam of the rear door and then went into a sit, which is his way of showing he detected the odor of illegal drugs. Schroeder then conducted a probable cause search of the vehicle. He located a book bag on the floor behind the passenger seat. Inside the bag he located multiple black, vacuum sealed bags. The bags were later determined to contain eight bricks of cocaine with a total weight of 18.46 pounds.

The case details were sent to the USPCA regional office, and the WPD was notified of the awards.

Also Monday, council members approved an agreement between the city and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension that pertains to utilization of a records management system, computer-aided dispatch system and mobile computing system. Those require additional services from the state through the BCA.