Jason Johnson has a passion for Police K-9’s and he has dedicated his life to working, training, and taking care of them. Jason believes that Police K-9’s perform selflessly for the departments and agencies they work for, and once they retire, are not offered that same respect by those they served. It is Jason’s goal to educate the public on the costs and responsibilities of adopting a retired hero and to ensure that every Police K-9 in the United States has their medical, food, and end of duty costs taken care of for them so they may enjoy the healthy and happy retirements that they deserve.
After volunteering his time for three years at the inception of the organization, Jason now acts as the CEO of Project K-9 Hero. Jason is also the CEO of Paradigm Defense Concepts and the CEO of K-9 Solutions International (K-9SI), where he manages domestic and international K-9 detection as well as defense contracts, training, and consulting services with civilian and government agencies worldwide. Since founding Project K-9 Hero, Jason has been working hard to grow the foundation so that he can serve as many retired K-9 Heroes as possible.
Before he founded Project K-9 Hero, Jason served as a Field Canine Coordinator for the Department of Homeland Security, where he provided program oversight and subject matter expertise to law enforcement and federal canine teams. He provided leadership, technical advice, guidance, and direction to ensure the overall effectiveness and utilization of explosive detection K-9 teams. He ensured that national program policy, standards, and guidelines were communicated in a clear and effective manner to a variety of internal and external stakeholders, while also ensuring adherence to such measures. He served as a K-9 liaison to civilian and law enforcement officials on the federal, state, and local government levels.
Prior to working as Field Canine Coordinator, Jason was a K-9 Trainer/Instructor and Course Developer for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He planned, developed, and was the Lead Instructor for Explosive Detection Courses to a variety of domestic and international federal agents, law enforcement, and U.S. Military. He trained, instructed and certified students in multiple federal agencies such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Marshals Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency and many other state and local
departments, working specifically in explosives detection. He worked with the Military Working Dog (MWD) program, providing Home-Made Explosives training to over 1,000 MWD’s prior to their deployment to high-threat areas such as Iraq and Afghanistan. He was also involved in developing and instructing the agency’s first off-leash detection program, SEEK (Search Enhanced Evidence K-9), and the agency’s first SRT (Special Response Team) dual purpose patrol/explosives detection canine. He instructed explosive detection canine courses for the U.S. Department of State’s Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program, which served over twenty-one countries. Jason was the 2011 recipient of the Johnny A. Masengale Memorial Award, which is given out nationally to those who made outstanding contributions in the explosives field.
Prior to working for the ATF, Jason served as an Explosive Detection K-9 Handler, Trainer, Kennel Master and Protective Security Specialist for the U.S. Department of State in support of the Worldwide Personal Protection Services contract with U.S. Diplomatic Security throughout Iraq and Afghanistan. He was assigned as one of the primary explosive detection handlers to the U.S. Ambassador and the Regional Security Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, and was the lead K-9 handler used in the 2009 Afghanistan Presidential Elections. He was the lead K-9 handler used in the 2008 Iraqi elections for south central Iraq, providing explosive detection sweeps for the U.S. Department of State, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the U.S. Department of Defense along with various other governmental agencies and programs.
Jason also served as a Police Officer for the City of Yakima, WA, and the City of Puyallup, WA. During that time, he specialized as a K-9 Handler and K-9 Trainer with the Washington State Police Canine Association. His additional duties included being a member of the SWAT Team, a Defensive Tactics Instructor, a Field Training Officer, and the Officer in Charge of the Honor Guard.
Jason honorably served in the United States Army as a Military Police Officer, where he received numerous awards and recognition throughout his assignments for his service. Jason holds a Master’s of Science and a Bachelor’s of Science from Bellevue University in Security Management. He has served as an adjunct professor at Henley-Putnam University, teaching a Master’s program in Advanced Executive Protection. Jason is an accomplished author and has contributed chapters for two separate University textbooks, used for teaching at the Master’s level in Strategic Security. He was published in both K-9 Cop and Police K-9 magazines with featured articles. Jason has also published his own children’s book about his inspiration to start this organization, titled “K-9 Flash Becomes A Hero.” K-9 Flash was named the 2018 Law Enforcement Dog of the Year in the country by American Humane. Jason actively works with Congress to see that his vision of the K-9 Hero Act, HR #5081, gets passed as a law to bring a positive change to the K-9 Community for generations to follow.