K9 gift honors fallen Deputy Darren Goforth

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The Harris County Sheriff's Office has two new law enforcement K9s, and one of them is honoring fallen Deputy Darren Goforth.

Goforth died in August 2015 when he was gunned down at a gas station. Shannon Miles is now charged in the murder.

Darren translates to Dario in Spanish, and that's the new name of the Belgian malinois that was just donated to HCSO. Dario's handler is Deputy John Palermo.

Funds for Dario were donated in part by Mr. Clinton T. Laechelin. He wanted to pay tribute to Deputy Goforth for his heroic actions and commitment to law enforcement.

In addition to Dario, the organization K9s4COPs donated Max, a Dutch shepherd. Max's handler is Deputy Timothy Lauder.

HCSO says these K9s have been trained to follow scents back to their place of origin in large crowds. These K9s will be used in high pedestrian traffic situations such as the Super Bowl and other large events.

Both K9s and handlers have gone through an extensive six-week course of training and both K9s have graduated in Mobile Odor Detection at Alderhorst International, which is based in California.