King County K9 handler accused of cheating on bomb dog certifications
Deputy Jonathan Akiona is under investigation for allegedly influencing qualification trials, enabling four bomb detection teams to pass who would have otherwise failed.
King County Sheriff’s Deputy Jon Akiona is under investigation for allegedly manipulating bomb detection trials to ensure canine teams he trained would pass certification.
During a five-day certification test in August 2024, Akiona was seen handling the “hides”—scented props used in the tests—with his bare hands or contaminated gloves and touching the outside of the boxes, which made it easier for the dogs to find them.
Officer Eric Dupleich, a Seattle K9 handler who helped administer the tests, said that Akiona asked him to “cherry-pick” the test results by transferring passing scores from one day to days when they failed.
Some of the teams had not met the minimum 400-hour training requirements for certification, and Akiona asked Dupleich to postdate their certifications to a time when they would have completed the necessary training. Dupleich said that Akiona moved hides after he placed them and manipulated the environment to make it more favorable.
Four out of five teams passed when none of them would have met the state standards without Akiona’s interventions. However, the Washington State Patrol recertified all of them months later.
Akiona, who sits on the state Canine Standards Board, told KCSO’s internal investigators that he participated in the certification tests as an “active assistant,” but Dupleich was the sole evaluator. He denied handling the boxes with his bare hands or contaminated gloves. Akiona acknowledged that he suggested Dupleich transfer scores, but only where appropriate to correct for unfair advantages.
The Office of Police Accountability investigated Dupleich for alleged dishonesty and unprofessionalism over his handling of the certification. In late March, the OPA found there was “insufficient evidence to find that [Dupleich] acted dishonestly by certifying the KCSO canines or allowing the certification testing to proceed.”
Due to deficiencies in the certification testing process, the OPA recommended that the Seattle Police Department and other agencies collaborate to revise the standards.
Akiona is facing simultaneous investigations from his department and the Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission.