The Gloucester County Police K9 Association Inc.

03/09/2026

We here at the GCPK9A are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Colleen Ziegler, wife to one of our long time members and executive board member, Adam Ziegler. Adam please know that we are all praying for peace for you and your entire family during this difficult time.

View Colleen S Ziegler's obituary, send flowers, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.

01/14/2026

Thank you again for your support!!!

12 Months of Giving - January - We are donating $255.00 to our friends at The Gloucester County Police K9 Association Inc.

If you have chance, visit their website at https://www.gcpk9a.com/ to learn more about the work they do in our community. On the K9 Teams page click on the police patches for more detail on each K9 unit.

12/06/2025

Today, K9 handlers active and retired gathered with the Glaser family to wish Jesse Bright Glaser a Merry Christmas! It is a tradition spearheaded by Retired K9 Sergeant Carrie Beck of Rowan University Police Department. Carrie and her K9 partner Tito played a big role back then and don't ya know...she is now the SRO for the Greenfields Elementary School which just happened to be Jesse's school.....That was just meant to be. Big thanks to Chief Mike Franks of West Deptford Police for his continued support and the support of his K9 teams today. Merry Christmas Glaser Family from the Gloucester County Police K9 Association~

11/17/2025

Our annual Christmas Meeting will be held on Thursday December 4th at 1800 hours at the Rolling Badges Club House in Westville. All members are welcome and encouraged to attend as we will be discussing Christmas donations for needy families throughout Gloucester County. We will also be swearing in new members. Food and beverage will be provided. Please make every effort to attend. Also please share this post.

11/03/2025

We will be having a general membership meeting on Thursday November 13th at 6:30pm. The meeting will be held at Rolling Badges clubhouse in Westville. All members welcomed. We will be voting on upcoming holiday donations. If you know of any families struggling to make ends meet, we’d like to help out with the holidays. Please bring ideas and let’s spread some cheer throughout Gloucester County. Please Share!!!

07/11/2025

Condolences go out to our own GCPK9a member Connie Nicholson on the loss of her K9 partner Kauen!

05/01/2025

Our hearts go out to Lt. Steve Cavallaro and his family for the passing of his retired K9 Partner Obo. Obo served alongside of Steve for many years protecting the citizens of Glassboro. God Speed Obo. 😞

We are saddened to announce the passing of K9 Obo who retired from service in May of 2022 after 9 years on patrol. Obo was donated to the department by Joe Nick who now runs the John “Sonny” Burke K9 academy. Obo’s name was an acronym for “Others Before Ourselves” and was handled by Lt. Steve Cavallaro and was cross trained in patrol and narcotics. As a team they enjoyed a successful career together on patrol protecting all those who live and travel through Glassboro as well as having an impact on the Gloucester County community through attending various community events and lending their services to neighboring agencies. It seems rare that K9’s often get more than a few years to enjoy their retirement and just be a “house dog” and we are fortunate that the Cavallaro family has been able to have this extended time with their protector. “What we have once enjoyed we can never lose; all that we have loved deeply, becomes a part of us.”- Helen Keller

04/30/2025

Congratulations to one of our very own!!! Ron we wish you nothing but the best with a happy and healthy retirement!!! You and K9 Gunner have served the Glassboro community well!!!

Today we bid farewell to another officer who has chosen to accept that retired life might just be for him. Ptl. Ron Marchese returned to work in his hometown of Glassboro in 2009 after being employed with the Delaware Bay and River Authority for 10 years. During the second phase of his law enforcement career, Ptl. Marchese held several assignments within the police department; Field Training Officer, Bike Patrol Officer, Rifleman, Community Response Unit. Aside from these assignments and being a K9 handler, first handling K9 Rocky from 2016 to 2018 and K9 Gunner from 2019-2025, Ptl. Marchese’s passion was being involved with the children within our community. Ptl. Marchese served as a School Resource Officer, was a Police Explorers Advisor and assisted with the Junior Police Academy. Ptl. Marchese was instrumental in bringing back the Police Athletic League (PAL) and worked tirelessly to get it off the ground. He cultivated relationships with all of the schools in our district as well as other local organizations within the Borough that were responsible in engaging our youth. Since its inception, the PAL program has been widely successful and aside from our regularly scheduled monthly events, PAL is continually requested to come out to other local events. The positive impact this program has had is the legacy Ptl. Marchese leaves behind. Ptl. Marchese we wish you a healthy and long retirement, enjoy!

04/16/2025

Tonight members of the NJ Law Enforcement K9 Community brought Glassboro Police K9 Charlie's ashes back home to Dom and his family. The event coined the "K9 Fly By" is meant to be just that. Muster up, give the K9 a final ride home the way cops know how, shake the handlers hand for a job well done then get back to serving and protecting. It's our tradition, a way of paying final respect to the handler and his/ her family and it is always EARNED! Welcome home Charlie...Thank you for your service~

04/09/2025

We here at the GCPK9A would like to congratulate both K9 Gunner and his partner Ptl. Ronald Marchese of the Glassboro Police Dept. on an outstanding career serving the residents of Glassboro. Also we’d like to wish them both well in their retirements!! Job well done team!!!

*K9 Gunner Retires*

K-9 Gunner was acquired as a donation through Retired Sheriff’s Officer Tony Dechico and the John Sonny Burke K9 Academy. He was our agency’s first Labrador Retriever and although we did not know many details regarding K9 Gunner’s history, we trusted he would be an asset to the Glassboro Police Departments K9 Unit. They attended the John Sonny Burke K9 Academy and graduated with their narcotic sent certification in April of 2019.

Gunner’s biggest impact on the Glassboro community was not as a result of his official narcotic training, but his ability to interact with our citizens and especially with children. Ptl. Marchese and K9 Gunner are well known visitors of the Rogers and Dorothy Bullock Schools where nearly everyone knew them by name; they were also the highlight of our K-9 demonstrations because of their ability to interact with members of the community on a different level then we had been able to in the past.

Ptl. Marchese made it a priority to attend community events throughout the county and as a team, they have paved the way for future community oriented K-9 teams.
K-9 Gunner will now be officially retired from six years of service to the Glassboro Police Department and will enjoy his time relaxing with Ptl. Marchese who will also be retiring next month. We wish K9 Gunner a long and healthy retirement filled with all the dog toys his heart desires.

04/01/2025

I just wanted to share the sad news of the passing of K9 Charlie. Charlie and her partner SFC Dom Visceglia served together protecting the residents of Glassboro for several years. SFC Visceglia is a proud member of the GCPK9A and we as an executive board wanted to send out our heartfelt condolences to the entire Visceglia family. Rest Easy Charlie. Visceglia

Today, the Rainbow Bridge welcomed retired K9 Charlie with open arms. She came from humble beginnings and was acquired as a rescue from Bright Star German Shepherd Rescue. After being paired with SFC. Visceglia she made it known that she was going to give him a run for his money and she never wavered in her stubbornness, but SFC. Visceglia never gave up on her and her potential; it was Visceglia's persistence and dedication in training that shaped them into a successful team. K9 Charlie was not only a valuable resource for the residents of Glassboro, but had an impact all over Gloucester County. K9 Charlie retired in December 2022 after working tirelessly for 7 years on patrol as an Explosive Detection K9. After her retirement it was time to switch roles and go from protecting the residents of Glassboro to protecting the Visceglia family where she remained in her handler’s care; some might argue that was her most important role to date. We grieve with the Visceglia family and hope the memories made will help you find some comfort during this difficult time.

“Dogs weave their lives into the very fabric of our being, threading moments of joy and companionship into our days. When they leave, they take a piece of us with them, but they also leave behind an indelible mark on our hearts.” —Unknown