K-9 on Cloud 9
The Newton County Sheriff’s Office recently welcomed a new K-9 officer to its ranks, but with the addition of Chobe comes the retirement of 9-year-old Rin, a Belgian Malinois who has been working off and on with the NCSO for several years.
Rin retired to the home of his handler, Deputy Watkins but is finding it a bit hard to adjust to a life of leisure.
“Whenever I crank the engine [of his patrol car], he’s ready to go to work,” said Watkins.
He was purchased by Watkins from North Carolina but had spent his early years in Miami, possibly as a guard dog. According to Watkins, getting Rin to recognize who the Alpha male was in the relationship was a struggle at first, but one that was quickly overcome.
A certified trainer, Watkins worked with Rin and brought him on at the NCSO as an all-purpose dog in 2005. After a year, Watkins was called away by the military and spent several years serving his country overseas. While Watkins was gone, Rin didn’t work. When he returned, he started back with training but Rin was not needed at the NCSO at that time.
When newly elected Sheriff Ezell Brown took office, he and Chief Deputy Jerry Carter, were very keen on having Rin back on board. He was assigned to the traffic unit and assisted deputies on the interstate.
“I give all the credit to Rin coming back to Sheriff Brown and Chief Carter,” said Watkins. “They have been very supportive and Chief Carter also came and watched some of the training of Rin, which is very positive for him to be out there supporting the program.”
Most recently Rin has worked as a narcotics dog, assisting in several drug busts on Interstate 20. In his career, however, he has worked as a tracking dog, in handler protection and in criminal apprehension.
“It’s pretty hard to get out there without a narcotics dog,” said Watkins. “You just never know what you’re going to have when you make a stop.”
Although he still keeps up with his training at home with Watkins, his age is starting to show.
“His muzzle has whitened and his eyes are getting a little cloudy,” said Watkins’ wife Carrie. “He’s starting to move a little slower and there are days when he’s not feeling well and will lie in the house all day. I think his hearing and eyesight are leaving him, but Rinny’s nose is still very strong.”
Although Rin still has the desire and the ability to work, he is very much a family dog now. He plays with Watkins’ two boys, Conner and Kyle, and is very protective of 4-month-old Casey. But when given the chance, Rin’s still ready to work, jumping right into the patrol car and sitting down in his place in the back, eager to get back on the road.
“Rinny could still work,” explained Watkins. “His nose is still sharp; he still follows commands. But he’s just getting older.”
But until the time comes that he’s needed back at work, Rin can spend his retirement like most people do, relaxing. Although his brand of relaxation includes a shaded spot under the children’s trampoline and a rubber toy tire, perpetually hanging from his mouth.
Waukegan team scores at K-9 Olympics
Police K-9 teams from northern Illinois spent two days in a quarry pit in Algonquin testing their individual and combined skills, and the Waukegan Police Departments unit took the top prize.
Dave Mahoney and his German shepherd, Matt, took top honors in the 6th annual K-9 Olympics event sponsored by TOPS Kennel Complex in Grayslake.
“This is probably the hardest thing we do,” said Alex Rothacker of TOPS, which trains police dogs and offers boarding, grooming and obedience training for the general public. It also boards cats and offers luxury accommodations, like private rooms with a television.
TOPS is run by Paula and Alex Rothacker. They met at a training kennel where they both worked, and both received training under famed trainer Willie Necker. The Rothackers have been training dogs since 1974. They opened TOPS in 1984 and moved to Grayslake in 1991.
This year, 15 teams competed for two days. Rothacker said one of the hardest drills involved was a teeter-totter that moved up, down and sideways. The dog and handler had to maneuver onto a platform.
Another platform drill involved the dog and handler in different inner tubes paddling out 100 feet into the lake where the dog had to transfer onto another inner tube with a platform without falling in the water.
There was also a toy retrieve from a canoe. The dog had to pick the toy out of the water without dumping the canoe, Rothacker said.
The competition also included traditional police scenarios — shooting, drug searches and driving a course forward and backward. Everything was timed.
“You can get bonus points for some events. One you have to wheel your dog in a wheelbarrow 100 feet while dragging two, four or six tires. Mahoney did all six tires,” he said.
Bonus points shaved time off final time, and mistakes added time.
“Mahoney was phenomenal,” Rothacker said, adding that the officer had not placed at all in the last four years.
The final event is a sprint up an 80-foot sand hill.
Mahoney and Matt had competed in 2006, but Matt injured his back jumping onto a huge block. Recovery involved months of rehabilitation at TOPS.
“It’s just the whole endurance thing. You and your dog have to be in shape,” Rothacker said.
“It’s hard, but you can work through it. It depends on your dog. Sometimes you are directing them with hand commands, and other times with verbal commands,” he said.
The hardest task was the teeter-totter.
“You’re three foot up and directing the dog platform, and then you get on another teeter-totter,” he said.
“Sure enough, he did it perfectly,” he said of Matt.
First: Dave Mahoney and Matt, Waukegan Police Department
Second: Jim McKinney and Rex, Lake County Sheriff’s Office
Third: Phil Mazur and Shane, Gurnee Police Department
Atlantic City Mayor may accept invitation to police K-9 demonstration
The removal of K-9 patrol units from the streets of Atlantic City In the wake of alleged abusive dog bites has prompted Atlantic County Public Safety Director Vince Jones to invite Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford to come to a K-9 training demonstration at his academy.
Jones wants the dogs back on the street.
Jones’ office oversees the K-9 training academy. His major concern he said was the safety of police officers and the public.
Langford’s Press Secretary Kevin Hall said the mayor may accept if he is formally invited by Jones.
On Tuesday, Jones said K-9 dogs are valuable assets in saving police officer lives and are highly trained and maintained.
“I would much rather send a K-9 into an empty building than risk the life of the officer, Jones said.
Jones’ academy graduates have won numerous national awards in competition. He added that officers and their dogs come from throughout New Jersey for the specialized training they receive in search and rescue, bomb detection, patrol, and narcotics. Including the K-9 dogs in Atlantic City.
He added that trying to control fights in large crowds without K-9 dogs is very dangerous to police officer and people in the crowds.
“If you have a fight with 50 or 60 people, they will attack the officers that come on the scene,” Jones said. “But if you have one K-9 dog there, the crowed will automatically disperse. Sometimes you don’t even need to take the dog out of the car. They hear the barking and they leave.”
In Atlantic City, Langford is responding to citizens’s complaints about K9 unit dogs. He has ordered the patrol dogs off the street until he has completed a review of complaints from citizens who have been bitten during apprehension by the K-9s, according to Hall.
“The mayor is concerned about abuse by dogs during the arrest process,” said Hall, “He wants to put the dogs on hold pending a review and to evaluate the validity of the (citizens) complaints.”
Hall said that the Atlantic City K-9 units dogs will still be used for bomb sniffing, drug tracking and detection. He added that the police dogs will still be sent out on mutual aid calls from other cities in the county.
Jones said the K-9 units from Atlantic City compose half of the county’s force of K-9 dogs. He pointed to K-9s importance in shooting incidents involving citizens and officers around the county.
“We had two officers shot in Egg Harbor Township,” Jones said. “The dogs picked up the scent and apprehended the individual. I am glad he is off the street and I hope he never sees the light of day.”
Jones added that after every dog bite a review is conducted to see if the police officer and the dog have followed procedures and acted appropriately or if any changes have to be made.
Jones also credits the success of the academy to an Atlantic City police dog trainer.
“Sgt. Kevin McKnight from Atlantic City is in my opinion the best K-9 instructor in the country,” Jones said. “Not all the dogs that come to the academy graduate. Some are too aggressive and if they are, they wash out and do not go on to become K-9s”
The question in Langford’s city is if the K-9 dogs and handlers are abusing citizens when they are arrested, according to Hall.
“Once the investigation is complete the mayor will ask the business administrator to implement new plans for the K-9 dogs, he said.”
Hall said the time frame for completion of that review is uncertain. He said Police Chief John J. Mooney is not cooperating with the mayor.
“The time frame is up in the air,” Hall said. “We have received limited cooperation from the police department. The mayor wants more attention paid to the matter.”
Chief Mooney has not yet responded to a call placed directly to his office.
Jones said he is highly confident in the training of the dogs and their handlers in Atlantic City. He said the dogs are not vicious and only respond on command of their handler. The K-9 dogs live with the K-9 officers and their families. They are also nationally recognized as real police officers.
“If you attack and injure a police dog, it is like attacking a police officer,” Jones said. “You get charged with that too.”
“My neighbor is an Atlantic City K-9 officer. My children ages, 4, 9 and 15 are allowed to go next door and play with their children and the K-9 dog” Jones said.
Benefit meal will help Dallas police officer recovering from brain clots
Chow down Thursday and help an officer in need. Dallas police and volunteers will dish up plates of food for $5 donations to help Alex Garcia, a young officer who developed blood clots on his brain this summer and is going through rehabilitation.
On the menu: Barbecued chicken, hot links, hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad and lemonade will be served from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Northeast Patrol Division, 9915 E. Northwest Highway. Eat under an awning in the back or take it to go. Look for parking signs across the street.
The beneficiary: Garcia was attending an out-of-state Police Explorer’s conference when he became severely dehydrated and suffered brain hemorrhaging. He’s home but continuing rehab at UT Southwestern Medical Center’s Zale Lipshy Hospital. The benefit, organized by the Neighborhood Police Officers Unit, will help with medical bills and related expenses, said Officer Mitch Gatson.
Condition update: Dallas police forwarded this update last Wednesday from his wife, Rosa: “Alex is progressing at a fast pace. The rehabilitation personnel, Alex, and I had a meeting last week and we were told that they have 3 levels of people they work with:
1. Those that can’t do anything by themselves and need the most help.
2. The middle level, which is where Alex was originally.
3. The exit level, which really focuses on getting patients ready to return to work and be independent. The great news is that Alex is now in the exit level. … They don’t have an exact discharge date, but they did mention maybe two or three more months. It really all depends on how he is doing.”
Master of Arms to state trooper
Dave and Carolyn Faulkner are pleased to announce the graduation of their son Jacob Faulkner of the Tehachapi High School class of 2003, from the Oregon State Police Academy. After serving for five years in the United States Navy as a master of arms, Jake applied and was accepted as an Oregon State Trooper.
Jake began at the State Training Facility in Salem Oregon on Jan 4, 2009. He graduated on June 19, with a class of 44 from all law enforcement agencies and was chosen as the recipient of the Governors Award which consists of overall outstanding in his class for; marksmanship, defensive tactics and academics. In addition the recipient of the Governors Award is chosen by the instructors and their peers.
Jake continued with a post academy for state police cadets and graduated on Aug. 1 and was chosen for an award for defensive tactics.
Nassau cops credit gunshot detection system
Since being turned on a month ago in two of Nassau County’s most dangerous communities, gunshot detection sensors in Uniondale and Roosevelt have tipped off cops to the precise locations of at least four gun crimes – alerts that police brass say sped up medical care for the wounded and hastened the arrests of the shooters, the county executive announced Tuesday.
The sonic sensors, part of a nearly $850,000 microphone-and-computer system called ShotSpotter, alerts 911 dispatchers about noises a computer program thinks are gunfire.
The computer pinpoints gunfire locations within about 82 feet and provides information such as whether the shooter was moving or standing still.
Dozens of the sensor microphones have been installed discreetly in what police call “the gun corridor” because of how many weapons crimes they investigate there, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi said.
At a news conference, Suozzi and Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey gave details of cases for which they credited ShotSpotter with helping offi-cers get to the scene quicker.
In July, a man shot at a party was taken to a hospital quicker because the ShotSpotter alerted officers before the first 911 calls came in, officials said. The man survived the shooting. And four suspects were arrested earlier this week in connection with an illegal handgun after the system detected gunfire in their area.
ShotSpotter sales literature states that communities using its system report a drop in violent crime of at least 30 percent and gunfire rates reduced by as much as 60 percent to 80 percent.
Mulvey said he hopes word of the gunshot sensors will deter gun crimes by generating expectations that officers will respond to a crime scene quicker.
Right now, most of what trips the sensors is ambient noises in the community – sounds of construction, helicopters and fireworks, said William G. Flanagan, a second deputy commissioner in charge of the gunshot sensor program.
When the sensors were activated on July 23, Flanagan’s team began what will be about six months of calibrations to help filter out false alarms. Eventually, most of the alerts to 911 dispatchers will be from actual gunfire, Flanagan said.
Mountain View, Calif.-based ShotSpotter Inc., told county officials that after the calibration period, about 85 percent of the system alerts will be for gunshots, county authorities said.
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