Eric Peterson, Trooper, Police Service Dog Handler, South Dakota Highway Patrol, Canine Search Solutions, and Brookings County K9 Search & Rescue
Eric Peterson is a SAR handler and law enforcement K9 instructor who began in search and rescue around 2008. He has trained and certified four SAR dogs across tracking and trailing, area search, building search, and HRD. His passion for working dogs led to a career change: in 2016 he joined the South Dakota Highway Patrol, became a dual-purpose Police Service Dog handler in 2021, and now serves as a PSD Instructor for the state. Across his SAR career, his deployments have brought closure to 12 families and provided information to advance investigations. With his PSD, he has seized hundreds of pounds of contraband and made multiple apprehensions. Having worked many tense, uncertain situations, Eric understands the high value of a strong after-action review to improve future action.