TPD celebrates 50 years of K-9
Half of a century has passed since Charlie Bowman got his first dog while working as a patrol officer at the Topeka Police Department.
“Nobody in Kansas had dogs at the time,” Bowman said Thursday night during a banquet at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge, 2649 S.E. 45th, celebrating the 50-year anniversary of the department’s K-9 unit. “Nobody knew the value of them. The public had a hard time accepting them — they would see a police car and ask why a dog was riding around in it.”
While police in New York City had been using police dogs since 1907, Bowman said the thought of having a furry, four-legged partner in 1960 didn’t sit well with some of his brethren in Topeka when the department initiated the first K-9 unit in the state.
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Police sniffing out crime with K-9 training
They’re more than just a best friend. Most times, K-9′s are an officer’s right hand dog when it comes to cracking a case,
Sgt. Nathan Beard
and with that responsibility, comes heavy training.
It was training week for officers and their law dogs to run through everything from narcotics tracking to patrols.
“They are able to do anything from find lost children, to lost Alzheimer’s patients, to tracking robbery suspects, narcotics. It’s just immense what they are able to do,” said Sgt. Nathan Beard.
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K-9 Competition Decides Which Nebraska Team Is Best
One wears a badge, the other a collar, but together an officer and his K-9 act as a team. A competition among law enforcement agencies to decide who has the best team in Nebraska began Friday in Omaha.
Three officers were dressed as overstuffed suspects because the one who resists will be caught in the teeth of the law. “Quit fighting my dog and I’ll call him back.”
Protecting their partner, then releasing on command, was one of a dozen events for police service dogs and their handlers. “How much force the dog actually has when he comes in, does he come in and hesitate or does he come in full out,” said competition judge Lt. Mark Stokey.
Eighteen K-9 teams from area law enforcement agencies competed for medals and the dogs sensed the competition. “They see the ‘bite suits’ and the other training gear and they get worked up for it,” said Douglas County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Ed Van Buren.
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Endy joins the Aberdeen Police
A new officer joined the ranks of the Aberdeen Police Department this past week, though she has a much different set of skills to use on the job. Endy, a 20-month-old German Shepard, was obtained by the department this past week and trained as a passive narcotics and tracking dog under Aberdeen officer Shawn Newman.
Newman recently completed an eight week training course with Endy in West Virginia to get the two used to working with each other. While training encompassed obedience, commands, and narcotics searches, Newman said most of the class was designed to give officers a chance to bond with their new partner.
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America’s Police Officer Of the Year
Emily Bowman, a frail 72-year-old diabetic, was sleeping in her recliner at 4:30 a.m. onJan. 9 when a fire alarm sounded at Briarleigh Court, a 40-unit apartment complex for the elderly in Hillsville, Va. Instead of going out an exterior door that would have meant safety, the startled senior citizen opened an interior door and stepped into a burning, smoke-filled hallway.
State Trooper Matt Cochran on patrol in Hillsville, Va. In January, he demonstrated uncommon bravery in saving an elderly woman's life. [Photo by Kyle Green
Virginia State Trooper Matt Cochran, 28, was on patrol less than a minute away. He and two other police officers arrived at the scene even before firefighters. Together, they began banging on residents’ doors. Then Cochran heard screams. What he did next has led PARADE and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) to name him their 2010 Police Officer of the Year.
“I had a flashlight,” Cochran recalls, “but it was absolutely worthless. The smoke was so thick you could feel it. One step in, and you couldn’t see the doorway. My uniform was starting to melt.” Crawling on his hands and knees, he made three attempts to reach the source of the cries. “I couldn’t find her the first time. The second time I had to come out for air. The third time I bumped into her. Then I stood up and walked her out. There were three explosions from residents’ oxygen tanks. The third one sounded like a bomb going off. It shook the whole building.”
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Every day a dog day for officer, and he’s loving it
Metropolitan Police Department officer DuWayne Layton’s patrol partner is pretty cool.
Except for all that shedding. And those fangs. And the panting. Oh, and the pooping in public. That’s really gotta stop.
But it won’t stop, because Layton’s patrol partner is a Belgian Malinois shepherd named Rico. Layton serves with Metro’s K9 unit, a corps of 21 patrolmen who partner with dogs to chase down criminals, uncover narcotics and pinpoint explosives.
Unlike any human patrol partners (we hope), Layton’s K9 patrol dogs go home with him at night, living with his family and other household pets. The 24-7 relationship creates strong bonds: Layton teared up as he discussed Rico’s retirement in November, when, after 10 years of service, he’ll make way for Layton’s next patrol dog, a Malinois named Boris. Another Malinois, Bonnie, works with Layton as a bomb-detection dog.
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Hobart adds a fourth member to K-9 squad
The newest member of the city’s police department is adept at tracking down and cornering suspects and is trained to sniff out both prescription and illegal drugs.
His name is Fax, and he’s a 4-year-old Belgian Tervuren.
Fax’s handler, police officer Ryan Snedecor, and police officer Simon Gresser, who is in charge of the force’s K-9 team, introduced Fax to the Board of Works at its meeting Wednesday night.
Gresser said Fax’s cost was covered by donations received from city businesses through a fundraising effort. He said the dog — which originally was a sport dog — and Snedecor went through five weeks of in-house training instead of the usual outside training.
“Ryan is my first protege,” said Gresser, who wants to do all future training in-house as well.
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Hills’ top dog retires
He’s sweet and mild-natured, yet he means business when it comes to tracking down suspects and drugs.
Kasper, the Farmington Hills Police Department’s K-9 dog, is retiring, as of today, after nine years of service and his handler couldn’t be more proud of the job he’s done.
“It’s been an amazing experience,” said Officer Jim Kase, a 25-year veteran with the department and Kasper’s only handler since being acquired in 2001. “He was a truly wonderful partner. We learned a lot together and he’s taught me a lot. I’ll miss working with him.”
But he won’t miss seeing Kasper, since the full-bred sable German shepherd is also his family pet. Kase said when Kasper isn’t working, he’s gentle, calm and good with kids. He said police dogs don’t normally work as long as nine years.
“He’s been fortunate to have lived a long and happy life,” he said.
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Sniffing out crimes
It might have been the sound of his growls.
Perhaps it was the way he yipped in a giddy way when he spotted the bad guy.
More likely, it was the sight of a 30-pound German Shepherd hanging off the bad guy’s arm by his teeth that did it for me.
But something told me I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that dog if he truly meant business.
Thankfully, the scene behind Lockwood Mathews Mansion Tuesday morning was just practice, and the “bad guy” was a Stamford police officer who volunteered to dress up to help the Norwalk Police with their K-9 training.
Oh, and his arm? It’s fine, thanks to a thick pad he was wearing on his forearm. But if it were for real life, it wouldn’t be long before the subject was taken down to the ground.
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Dallas Police SWAT, motorcycle cops to host Halloween toy drive
Tactical Section – S.W.A.T. & Motors Charity Motorcycle Run 2010 on Halloween!
Hello, everyone, once again we will be working with Dallas SWAT Officers Robert Cockerill, & Paul Junger to collect donations for the Terminally Ill Children of Medical Hospital in Dallas for a special Christmas celebration hosted by the Dallas SWAT Team.
The ride will start at Reno’s Chop Shop and will end at Stroker’s of Dallas as last year. You will be lead on a historical ride through Dallas and see world famous sites such as Bonnie & Clyde Memorial, Stevie Ray Vaughn grave site and more. You do not have to ride or own a motorcycle to participate. All donations are to benefit the Terminally Ill Children of Medical Center Dallas. Hope to see you there on 10/31/10.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact the following people by Facebook Message: Dori Horne, Marilee Kelleher, Dawn McDonald.
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