{"id":4802,"date":"2026-06-03T20:23:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T20:23:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/operations\/?p=4802"},"modified":"2026-06-03T20:27:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T20:27:06","slug":"purdue-university-police-department-welcomes-new-officer-recognizes-owi-enforcement-and-retires-k-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/operations\/blog\/2026\/06\/03\/purdue-university-police-department-welcomes-new-officer-recognizes-owi-enforcement-and-retires-k-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Purdue University Police Department welcomes new officer, recognizes OWI enforcement and retires K-9"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"modal-ready\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Purdue University Police Department (PUPD) recently held a ceremony to swear in a new officer, recognize a current officer and officially retire a police K-9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Swearing In<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the ceremony, Officer Kyle Cates was sworn in to serve the campus community. He holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in Homeland Security from Vincennes University. He\u2019s worked for the Covington Police Department as school resource officer and the Dearborn County Sheriff\u2019s Office as a deputy. He now begins field training with PUPD before he will patrol on his own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Top Cop Award<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officer Zach Waltz was recognized as the department\u2019s Top Cop\u2014an award presented for Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) enforcement. Officer Waltz was recognized for his diligent efforts over the last four years to remove impaired drivers from the roadways to help keep all campus community members safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>K-9 Retirement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">K-9 Mocca officially retired from the department after nine years of service. K-9 Mocca is a Dutch Shepherd trained in explosives detection and suspect apprehension. He and his handler, Sergeant Albert Demello, were recognized for their achievements over the years, including working more than 600 events and being called out to assist the Tippecanoe County Bomb Squad on several occasions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was a day to celebrate new beginnings and career achievements, \u201csaid Chief Lesley Wiete. \u201cRecognizing the efforts of our officers, including the four-legged ones, reinforces the dedication and service that goes into this profession, which are essential for effective law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To keep up with the department\u2019s achievements, be sure to follow @Purdue_Police&nbsp;on X\/Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">PUPD is part of the Administrative Operations organization, which supports the university by providing safe, reliable and transformative services. Recognizing and celebrating various achievements at the department is just one of the ways the organization helps power Purdue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div  class=\"purdue-home-image-slider section has-white-background \" data-columns=\"1\">\n    <div class=\"container\">\n        <div class=\"glide\">\n            <div class=\"glide__live sr-only\"\n                 aria-live=\"polite\"\n                 aria-atomic=\"true\">\n            <\/div>\n            <div class=\"glide__track\" data-glide-el=\"track\">\n                <div class=\"glide__slides\">\n                                                                                                        <div class=\"glide__slide\">\n                                    <figure class=\"image\">\n                                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"is-16by9\"                                                src=\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/operations\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PUPD-June-Ceremony-Mocca.jpg\"\n                                                alt=\"K-9 Mocca has officially retired from the Purdue University Police Department after serving the campus community for nine years. Photo Administrative Operations Communications.\" \/>\n                                                                            <\/figure>\n                                <\/div>\n                                                                                                                <div class=\"glide__slide\">\n                                    <figure class=\"image\">\n                                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"is-16by9\"                                                src=\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/operations\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PUPD-June-Ceremony-Cates.jpg\"\n                                                alt=\"Officer Kyle Cates was officially sworn in to the Purdue University Police Department on June 2.\" \/>\n                                                                            <\/figure>\n                                <\/div>\n                                                                                                                <div class=\"glide__slide\">\n                                    <figure class=\"image\">\n                                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"is-16by9\"                                                src=\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/operations\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PUPD-June-Ceremony-Waltz.jpg\"\n                                                alt=\"Officer Zach Waltz was recognized as the Top Cop for the Purdue University Police Department for 2025.\" \/>\n                                                                            <\/figure>\n                                <\/div>\n                                                                                        <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                        <div class=\"slider-controls\">\n                <button class=\"glide__arrow arrow--left\">previous<\/button>\n                <div class=\"glide__bullets\" data-glide-el=\"controls[nav]\">\n                                                                        <button class=\"glide__bullet slider__bullet\"\n                                    data-glide-dir=\"=0\"\n                                    aria-label=\"slide 1\"><\/button>\n                                                    <button class=\"glide__bullet slider__bullet\"\n                                    data-glide-dir=\"=1\"\n                                    aria-label=\"slide 2\"><\/button>\n                                                    <button class=\"glide__bullet slider__bullet\"\n                                    data-glide-dir=\"=2\"\n                                    aria-label=\"slide 3\"><\/button>\n                                                            <\/div>\n                <button class=\"glide__arrow arrow--right\">next<\/button>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Purdue University Police Department (PUPD) recently held a ceremony to swear in a new officer, recognize a current officer and officially retire a police K-9. Swearing In During the ceremony, Officer Kyle Cates was sworn in to serve the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":4803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,48,45],"tags":[17,199,66,16,302],"location":[],"class_list":["post-4802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-and-community","category-people","category-public-safety","tag-campus-and-community","tag-k-9","tag-pupd","tag-purdue-university-police-department","tag-swearing-in"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-16 05:14:26","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/operations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/operations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/operations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/operations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/operations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4802"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/operations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4818,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/operations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4802\/revisions\/4818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/operations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/operations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/operations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/operations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4802"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/operations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=4802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}