New K-9 in Elk County

Elk County has a new tool – and friend – to help fight drugs in Elk County, find fleeing suspects and search for missing people.
St. Marys Police Department Patrolman Mike Shaffer became the department’s new K-9 officer in December.
Copper, who was purchased through a grant from the Elk County District
Attorney’s office, has been trained to find narcotics, search for
missing people and protect Shaffer, other officers and anyone else who
would need protecting.
Kudro, the department’s former K-9, retired last year due to his age. He first came to the department in 2001.
A dog’s senses are 240 times better than a person’s for detecting
narcotics or humans, but after eight to 10 years, those senses aren’t
as sharp, Shaffer said.
Two-year-old Copper lives with Shaffer.
Although Kudro was often taken into schools where the children could
pet and hug him, that will not be the case with Copper since he has the
additional training of protecting Shaffer.
Shaffer said the
department felt it was necessary to get a dog with extra training
because while working with the dog, Shaffer is not quite as aware of
his surroundings as he would be if he wasn’t working with the dog.
Shaffer has been with the St. Marys police since June 2007 and before that worked for the Ridgway Police Department.
The chief of police had approached a couple of officers before asking
Shaffer if he would like to be the K-9 officer. Shaffer expressed an
interest and began researching what that would involve.
Most importantly, the officer must like to work with dogs and not be afraid of them, Shaffer said.
Shaffer must work with Copper regularly to keep his training skills
sharp. Shaffer works with Copper one to three hours a day on narcotics
detection.
Copper recently practiced tracking a person fleeing and
did very well, Shaffer said. The “suspect” was loud and verbal and
Shaffer let Copper lose. He did better than expected despite it being
cold and snowy outside, Shaffer siad.
Generally K-9 dogs are about 2 when they go to work. They must first go through a year and a half of training, Shaffer said.
In addition to Copper being trained, Shaffer also needed to be trained.
He spent two weeks in New York with the handler who taught Copper.
Shaffer had to learn the basic comands and how to get Copper to react.
It was also important for a bond to form between Shaffer and Copper
before he brought him back. Copper stayed with Shaffer while Shaffer
was in New York.
“That’s a huge part of it. Especially for
protection so that the dog will protect the officer if needed even
without a command,” Shaffer said.
Luckily, former dog trainer Jim
Higgins has offered to work with Shaffer and Copper. He’s also willing
to be a decoy when needed, Shaffer said.
Now that Copper is home,
he is already following Shaffer through the station. Copper has already
“adopted” the station as his place, he said.
“It was easier than I expected to get where we are now. I attribute it to the dog’s attitude; he’s very calm,” Shaffer said.
Last week was Copper’s first experience working the night shift. He
seemed to adjust well, Shaffer said. Copper works the same shift as
Shaffer.
Copper has been used by the U.S. Forest Service and
found evidence of what the service had suspected was going on, Shaffer
said.
Sometimes all it takes is the presence of a dog to make
suspects more cooperative. Copper is considered a police department
tool, but also a full officer, Shaffer said. Copper is permitted to be
anywhere an officer can go including into a person’s home during a
domestic situation.
He also had the chance to search a car for
narcotics. Nothing was found, but the attitude of the people in the car
definitely changed when they saw the dog was being used, Shaffer said.
When Copper is looking for drugs he thinks he’s looking for a toy
because once he finds the drugs, Shaffer will give him a toy and they
will spend a few moments playing.
He has been used by the federal
prison near Bradford and will be used at the Elk County Jail. All of
the high schools in the county have contacted Shaffer, too, to have the
dog go through the schools.
The dog was bought for $8,000 by the
Elk County District Attorney’s Office with forfeiture money. That money
is usually given to law enforcement agencies, but this year the
agencies all agreed Copper would be a good investment for the county.
He is available for use by all the agencies.

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