Marco the Olive Branch K-9 has turned in badge after long career

No more sniffing cocaine. No more facing down people with guns and knives. Life will be all about a beloved rope toy, dog treats and a scratch behind the ears.

Marco, Olive Branch’s longtime K-9 cop, has retired. Sgt. Michael Gibbs, his most recent handler, is purchasing him from the city for $1.

His replacement arrived earlier this month in the form of the similarly named Marko, a 15-month-old Belgian Malinois.

Law enforcement agencies typically retire dogs younger than the 101/2 -year-old Marco, also a Belgian Malinois. Gibbs said Marco still had a lot of spunk but deserved a rest.

“He loved to go to the hot calls,” Gibbs said. “He could tell by radio traffic. He’d get wound up, ready to go.”

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Sheriff’s Office Gets New K9 Officer

The Travis County Sheriff’s Office received a new addition to its team on Friday. Sutton is a dog that was rescued by the Austin German Sheppard Rescue Association.

Sutton was with a foster family who thought the dog would work well in law enforcement.

He will have to go through training. The Sheriff’s Department said he will work in narcotics because of his skills and drive.

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Mayor Promotes JPD Lieutenant To Head Police Department

Lt. Harry Snellings accepts the nomination for police chief and director of public safety at a news conference with Mayor Sam Teresi on Friday. P-J photo by Robert?Rizzuto

With City Council approval pending, the Jamestown Police Department is set to take a new direction under the leadership of one of its own decorated and experienced officers.

Ending a four-month period of speculation and bids for the job, Mayor Sam Teresi appointed Lt. Harry Snellings as the new police chief and director of public safety Friday afternoon.

“As I stand here before you today, I have just wrapped up one of the most difficult processes in my tenure as mayor of the city of Jamestown,” Teresi said at a news conference Friday. “The selection process was extremely challenging and difficult, and in the end, I had to tell many of my longtime friends that despite their great qualifications, I decided to go with someone else.”

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Trainees hope to make the cut for SWAT

The window three stories above Sgt. Lance VanDongen looked unintimidating, but only from the ground.

“You’re not going to want to go through that window,” he warned the 29 SWAT candidates who are harnessed up for Tuesday’s urban climbing course at the Salt Lake City police training tower. “It’s a very unnatural thing to do.”

The rappelling exercise is part of a six-day training course this week for prospective SWAT officers from seven police and fire agencies and military personnel. Starting at 4 a.m. Sunday, the trainees have been running obstacle courses, swimming, shooting and climbing up and down buildings.

It sounds cool, but Hollywood bravado has no place on belay.

“I don’t want to see anyone jumping down in leaps,” Detective Reuban Torres warned the students.

On the other side of the tower, trainees scaled a suspended ladder less than a foot wide. It twisted between their feet as they climbed to the roof through strong gusts of wind.

Salt Lake City fire investigator Cristal VanDongen finished her ascent without a hitch and assured her skeptical classmates she had no special ladders training from the fire department.

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