Detective Christina Orlando and her four-legged partner Lindsay have been together since 2017. Now at the NYPD ESU K-9 unit, the pair helps train handlers and dogs to handle the city’s biggest emergencies.
In a Brooklyn facility, Orlando serves as a lead trainer to help cops bond with their dogs and get them ready for every kind of scenario that can happen to any unit across the five boroughs — everything from bringing a suspect to justice who has barricaded himself inside an apartment, to looking for the deceased after a catastrophic instant.
Orlando does not take her job lightly. She is the first female K9 trainer in ESU history, carving out a trailblazing path for herself and for other women who yearn to follow in her paw-shaped footsteps.
“I feel very honored to have this position. I know it paves the way for other females to go into a position like this. But I also don’t see it as gender, I see it based on skill sets. Lucky for me, I had enough experience to train with Lindsay, and we had a successful career together as partners,” Orlando told amNewYork.
At their Brooklyn base of operations, Orlando runs cops on two legs and four through their paces. She conducts obedience training in order for the canines and their handlers to learn from one another. The unit also has an obstacle course set up in order to help the furry police officers learn how to navigate sticky situations that could occur when out in the field.
From burrowing through tunnels to leaping through NYPD car windows, nothing is too “ruff” for these pups — they learn it all.
“Every day is different. We train the dogs that are in front of us and the handlers that are in front of us. So every day is a different type of training,” Orlando said. “It’s so humbling because there’s so many different personalities, so many different dogs, people. It’s a great experience to really be able to train with so many different personalities.”
While Orlando is the trainer, she has a group of female handlers supporting her, including Detective Monika Grejniec with K9 Tombo, Detective Katrina Narvaez with K9 Freddy, and Police Officer Samantha Kirrane with K9 Quinn, creating a group of female groundbreakers. These women utilize the dogs to find drugs and guns smuggled into cars or even to detect exposure devices; there appears to be very little the canines can’t do.
Still, Lindsay is not just a partner to Orlando; they are like family. The pair live and work together, shaping an unbreakable bond. The detective’s eyes welled up with tears as she recalled their first meeting.
“It was super emotional. I get emotional talking about it now. It was the most emotional thing because I wanted it so badly, and I feel like I worked so hard to get here. And finally, everything that I worked hard for is in this 53-pound dog that I consider my partner,” Orlando said.
Detective Scott Mateyaschuk, who heads up the unit, told amNewYork that Orlando is an asset to the team thanks to her skillset.
“She brings a real unique perspective to the training, great communication skills, and different aspects that, you know, definitely mentor the other females around,” Mateyaschuk said. “The partnership is a tight bond between the canine and handler, and it’s very unique because you’re probably spending more time with the dog than you are with your family.”
