Dog show proceeds to help Sheriff’s Office acquire new K-9
The upcoming Cotton Land Cluster of Dog Shows is more than a place for pets to be put on display, it is also a huge economic boost for the area.
The shows will begin Sept. 3 at the Monroe Civic Center and will be dedicated in the memory of Ouachita Parish K-9 officer Cpl. J.R. Searcy and Bayou Kennel Club supporter J.E. Faler. Searcy was killed in the line of duty earlier this year.
Alana Cooper, executive director of the Monroe-West Monroe Convention and Visitors Bureau, said this is the 38th year for the event and it has many benefits for the community.
“Last year it had a $2 million impact, and the event keeps growing,” Cooper said. “It is a family-friendly event, and people can come out and bring their kids.”
Proceeds from the event are used for local scholarships and to benefit the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit.
The Sheriff’s Office currently has two dogs and are searching for another. Chuckie, a German Shepherd, and Popeye, a black Labrador retriever, were guests at the kickoff news conference on Wednesday.
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Barnidge: A police dog is the best friend an officer could want
ANTIOCH police welcomed back a hero last week, just four days after he suffered a gunshot wound while subduing a suspected burglar. He took part in a training session as if it were any other day on the job, fairly ignoring the scar on his right shoulder.
Lt. John VanderKlugt wasn’t surprised.
“Thor is a tough dog,” he said.
No one appreciates police dogs more than police officers, who marvel at the courage of their four-legged buddies in rooting out bad guys.
Vander-Klugt, who manages the Antioch K-9 unit, said a trained dog can be the difference between a suspect escaping and surrendering without a fight.
“The instance with Thor received a lot of notoriety,” he said, “and whenever a dog makes an apprehension, it’s in the news. What doesn’t get the recognition is the number of times a suspect gives up after we announce we are sending in the dog. It happens all the time.”
The secret to K-9 success is the bond between handler and dog. When an officer selects his partner — German shepherds and Belgian Malinois are favored in Antioch — the two become constant companions. They work the same hours, live together and typically are teamed for a minimum of four years. The dog becomes a member of the officer’s family.
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Police hope to expand K-9 force with 2nd dog
Brookings Police Department’s drug detection dog Charger is doing a great job, but police are looking to take a bigger bite out of crime by giving him a canine counterpart – a German shepherd-type dog trained to protect officers.
A fundraising golf tournament to raise money to purchase and maintain such a dog is scheduled for Sept. 18. Meanwhile, the department will continue to rely on Charger as their number one tool in regional anti-drug efforts.
Meet Charger
Charger is a bouncy, friendly four-year-old black Labrador retriever handled by Officer Dustin Watson.
On Aug. 4, at the request of the Oregon State Police, Charger and Watson discovered 4 pounds of marajuana in a car on Highway 101.
It’s far from the first drug bust Charger and Watson have made.
“We have seized marijuana, methamphetamine and hashish,” Watson said.
Charger has also found syringes and metal and glass pipes.
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Black police officers come to Sacramento to remember the fallen
Over 100 African-American police officers from as far away as the United Kingdom marched in Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood Thursday in honor of their fallen brothers and sisters.
The National Black Police Association holds the march annually in different cities each year. The march is part of their week-long training seminars.
“Out of the 800,000 police officers we have in America, only 10 or 11 percent of them are African-American,” NBPA executive director Ronald Hampton said.
The march is actually based on an event that happened in Boston, Mass., back in the mid 1970s.
African-American children were being bused into white neighborhoods to go to school and it was causing stress on Caucasian police officers due to segregation issues. Black police decided to take a pro-active approach and escort these black children into the white areas safely.
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HPD K-9 officer and handler are on the job
K-9 officer Brisco is back on the job for the Hudson Police Department with his new partner K-9 handler and police officer Bob Larson. Photo by Margaret A. Ontl
After nearly a year off, K-9 officer Brisco, a Belgian Malinois-German Shepherd hybrid, is back in service at the Hudson Police Department with his new partner Officer and K-9 handler Bob Larson.
Larson, a 1999 Hudson High School graduate, went into law enforcement after graduating of University of Minnesota at Mankato with a degree in law enforcement.
It was not a lifelong goal; in fact, his father HPD Lt. Paul Larson discouraged it.
“It turned out to be my area of interest,” said Larson, who has been in the field for over five years, the last three with HPD.
Larson, applied for the position of K-9 handler last year, when the department restarted its canine program after several years off.
This year he applied again and earned the position. Larson and Brisco reported to St. Paul Police Canine Unit training facility on March 8 for three months of intense training.
Brisco, a three-year-old had been through the training last year with then K-9 handler, Todd Ludvig, who later resigned the position.
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Physical rigors, mental fortitude test SWAT recruits’ true grit
They came from different ranks and units, with cargo pants and duty belts, looking prepared for the rigors of a test that would open the doors to one of the police bureau’s most elite teams.
Around a conference room table at the Pittsburgh police bureau’s North Side headquarters last week, they looked unfazed when a lieutenant reminded them that the SWAT team is an around-the-clock commitment, for both them and their families.
“If this is what you want to do, you’re expected to be here for the call-outs,” Lt. Joseph Tersak told the nine candidates before they set out on the daylong tryout. “Thank you for your interest. And good luck.”
But, as a message scrawled on a white board inside their heavily armored truck would caution, “Luck is not part of this operation!”
Instead, a mix of physical stamina and mental fortitude would help them pass this test. But even passing doesn’t guarantee them a spot on the tactical unit, which is expanding from 39 to 46 members.
Those who qualified during tryouts last week must also excel during even more strenuous basic and advanced SWAT training before they are ranked and finally chosen by the police chief.
Scott’s Sheriff of the Year takes serving to heart
Fliers, a stack of them, sat at John Lizenby’s right elbow. They told of a 26-year-old missing woman.
Nina Rae Keown’s mother had called Lizenby, Scott County’s sheriff, every morning since the disappearance. She hoped for answers that Lizenby hoped he could give soon.
“I’ll probably get the posse out,” he said. “You search. Maybe you find something.”
Only in some counties does a distraught mother even have the sheriff’s direct phone number. Only in some does a sheriff have a posse – yes, on horseback – to deploy. And only in some, for that matter, would a missing adult register so high on the scale of worries.
Over a career perhaps in its final months, Lizenby has made sure that Scott is one of those counties.
“He stands up for the people,” said Daniel Cole of Austin, no matter that he has spent time in Lizenby’s jail. “He’s not one to pin a badge on him and let it go to his head.”
This time in Lizenby’s presence to apply for a gun permit, Cole admired a plaque the sheriff received recently from the Indiana Sheriffs Association. Lizenby is the group’s 2010 Sheriff of the Year. He was nominated by employees and elected leaders who agree with Cole.
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Seven year old joins SWAT Team
Officer Jason Armstrong
The Norfolk Police Department welcomed a new member to the SWAT Team on Friday, and he is only 7-years-old.
With help from a local advocacy group known as the ROC SOLID Foundation, 7-year-old Hayden Miller, who is battling cancer, went out and struck a deal with Norfolk police.
“Our primary goal and our primary outreach is to give positive change and hope to children dealing with pediatric cancer,” said Eric Newman of the ROC SOLID Foundation.
“He’s gone through a heck of a lot more than any of us will ever go through,” said Jason Armstrong from the Norfolk Police Department.
Armstrong was the first to answer the call from ROC SOLID. He said this request was a natural fit for the SWAT TEAM.
“He kind of characterized the spirit of what we believe in. Team and Loyalty,” said Armstrong.
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Retired sheriff’s detectives foil bank thief
Two retired Los Angeles sheriff’s detectives have foiled a bank heist by the so-called “Lumberjack Bandit” by pulling out their weapons before he had a chance to grab his own.
The FBI says 28-year-old Mauricio Enriquez of Mexico was arrested Wednesday without gunfire as he attempted to rob a downtown Wells Fargo bank. Federal prosecutors have charged him with five bank robberies since June 18.
Two undercover bank security officers—66-year-old and 67-year-old former detectives—recognized Enriquez from a wanted poster when he walked into the bank.
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