Partners in crime-fighting

LAPEER — The county’s top dog noses out narcotics, locates the lost and unearths evidence.

“Drago,” a 9-year-old Belgian Malinois, has been on duty with the Lapeer County Sheriff’s Department for more than eight years and teamed with deputy Mike Tappen for more than five of them.

“He is my partner,” said Tappen. “Where I go, he goes.”

The duo, with Lapeer City Police officer Shawn Broecker, and his German Shepherd canine partner “Axel,” plus eight other county canine units, keep drugs out of schools.

“Sheriff Kalanquin has a mutual aid agreement with the other counties,” Tappen said. “It saves the counties a lot of money, and puts more than one dog on the scene when they’re needed.”

The certified K-9 units from the Mid Michigan Police Canine Association train once a week to sharpen their skills. At the request of the school’s policing jurisdiction, they often use a conditioning day to insure there is no drug activity at the schools. Nine K-9 teams from Lapeer, Genesee, Sandusky, Shiawasee and Tuscola counties searched Imlay City High School and Almont High School Tuesday. The dogs deemed both schools drug free.

“They got there just before 9 a.m. unannounced,” said Imlay City Police officer Joseph DeLuca, the school liaison officer. “They did a general search of the exterior, the outside of the lockers and around the vehicles in the parking lot.”

Though lockers remained shut, the canines could have easily detected the presence of illegal drugs such as cocaine, marijuana or heroin. During the search, school officials stood by in case any were determined suspicious. The dogs sense of smell is so keen, they can easily detect narcotics inside a vehicle though the windows and doors are shut.

“When there is a cake in the oven, that’s what we smell,” Tappen said. “But Drago smells each ingredient like the baking powder, the butter, and the eggs.”

While on the job, Drago has recovered evidence to put away criminals and sniffed out a lot of drugs including 850 pounds of marijuana during one bust. Tappen is most proud of his partner when he finds lost or missing people.

“There was a 10-year-old boy that had medical problems who ran off with his dog Snoopy,” Tappen said recalling one incident. “We had Oakland County helicopters called out. Drago found him and ran right up to him”

The dog was trained by Mid-Michigan Kennels in Eaton Rapids; the company specializes in police dogs. Drago only follows orders from Tappen.

“He will follow commands in three languages, English, Chech, and sign,” Tappen said. “Some of the dogs are trained in French, Russian or German.”

When Tappen is in the squad room, Drago remains in the police car. The deputy wears a special sensor that monitors the temperature inside the cruiser to insure the dog is comfortable.

Besides spending one week a year in the kennel for a family vacation, Tappen and Drago are side by side. Tappen’s police partner is also a member of the family. He sleeps inside the home and is affectionate and loyal to his wife and two children. But when there’s a visitor, Drago is regulated to his crate.

When Drago becomes too old for police work, he will live full time with the Tappens.

Link

Advertisement