About Us
Robert A. DeMaio, the President of T.N.S. K-9 Services, retired after 20 years of service with the New York City Department of Corrections. He was a canine trainer and handler for the Emergency Service K-9 Unit located on Rikers Island. He has 15 years experience in training canines and was certified in K-9 Police Narcotics Detection by the N.Y.S. Municipal Police Training Council. He also received Instructor certifications from both the M.P.T.C. and the New York State Commission of Corrections. Mr. DeMaio is certified in the NIK system of narcotic identification, received a certification for Handler Instruction Training and is a member of the United Sates Police K-9 Association.
Mr. DeMaio also attended the Pennsylvania State Department of Corrections K-9 Academy where he received a certificate in the training of narcotic detection dogs which included the training of passive alert K-9 dogs. After attending this training, Mr. DeMaio was instrumental in implementing training and establishing policy for N.Y.C. Department of Corrections for searching visitors and inmates for narcotics utilizing passive alert canines. This method of searching was later approved by the N.Y.S. Commission of Correction which granted a variance to search people with canines. Today, the Department’s K-9 Unit with its passive alert narcotic dogs conducts random searches of approximately one thousand visitors a day on Rikers Island.
Mr. Robert Fernandez is a 28 year veteran in the field of corrections working for the State of Florida, the Miami-Dade County Department of Corrections, the Federal Bureau of Prisons and finally retired after 20 years of service with the New York City Department of Corrections. At the time of his retirement, he was a K-9 handler for the Emergency Service K-9 Unit located on Rikers Island. He was certified in K-9 Police Narcotics Detection by the N.Y.S. Municipal Police Training Council and received an Instructor certification from the New York State Commission of Corrections. His last assignment was searching visitors, inmates and housing area, among other locations, at Rikers Island utilizing a passive alert K-9.
He is a member of the United Sates Police K-9 Association where he certified in Narcotic Detection. Mr. Fernandez attended a 16 week course for Police Service Instructor at Sal Piazza's Professional Dog Training School which included instruction on obedience training, evidence search, tracking, handler protection, etc.
Mr. Fernandez also has approximately 18 years as an investigator in his corrections career and holds numerous certifications and awards.
