Soon an
Orem suspicious car
was pulled over, and Orem Cpl. Trent Colledge
responded to the scene with his partner,
a Belgian Malinois named Rudy.
"While
the vehicle was lawfully stopped I ran him
around the car,"
Colledge said of the German Shepherd-esque dog.
"Then in the trunk were three large barrels of
marijuana.
"Police eventually seized 67 pounds of marijuana
from the car. The drugs were worth about
$440,000
on the street. It was Rudy's biggest drug bust ever, Colledge recalled,
though the K9 unit also
was responsible for taking many pounds of methamphetamine and other
substances off the streets.
As the
drug busts make clear, Rudy was an integral part
of the Orem Department of Public Safety,
as well as other Utah County law enforcement
units where he periodically assisted.
Earlier this year, however,
Rudy's career as a police dog was cut short when he was diagnosed with
terminal cancer.
According to Orem Sgt. Craig Martinez, doctors found a large tumor on
Rudy's liver,
and ultimately the decision was made to put him down to end his suffering.
The
loss means Colledge is suddenly without a
partner, which he described as a more emotional
turn
of events than he had anticipated. Colledge and
Rudy began working together five years ago.
Over the years they interacted daily and became
close. Rudy's death also means Colledge's
family
lost a loved pet. In order to fortify their relationship, K9 handlers and
dogs live together.
In this case, Rudy became a kind of family pet and Colledge's 11-month-old
son still looks for
Rudy in the backyard. He also did regular training with the dog. "It's an
ongoing, constant
thing," he added. The goal was to make Rudy,
like all police dogs, as effective as possible.
Rudy was a dual purpose dog, having been trained
to sniff for drugs and subdue potentially
dangerous criminals.
"These dogs are used every day to keep people
safe, to locate drugs, to get bad guys off the
street," he said.
Martinez added that Rudy assisted departments in
Provo, Pleasant Grove, Lindon and elsewhere.
"In just one shift they'll generally handle a
dozen or more calls," Martinez said.
And Rudy was
effective. According to Colledge most suspects, including one man who led
officers on a chase
before ramming another vehicle, surrendered when
they realized the police had a dog.
The loss of the K9 unit has much broader
implications for the Orem Department of Public
Safety.
Because Rudy's cancer was unexpected, Orem didn't budget to get a new dog
this year.
That means the department doesn't have the funds to replace him.
Martinez said a new dog can cost a department close to $11,000 because
they typically come from Europe.
"They go through several years of training
before they can be purchased by police
departments," Martinez said.
Though Rudy was not the only dog used by Orem
police, Martinez pointed out that a reduced
force means a reduced ability to catch criminals
and keep the public safe. As a result, the
department is reaching to the public for help and donations. Martinez said
the Orem Department
of Public Safety will accept donations of any
amount.
To
learn more or make a donation, visit
www.orem.org/k9donation.
Donations also can be made in person or by mail at the
Orem Police
Department,
95 East Center St.
Orem, UT, 84057
**********
Jim Dalrymple -
Daily Herald
http://www.ewingpolice.com/index.htm
submitted by Jim
Cortina, Dir. CPWDA
In
Loving Memory of
K9 ROWBAN
August 13, 2012
Handler:
Officer Gary Schoon
Smyrna Police Department
120 Enon
Springs Rd. E.
Smyrna, TN 37167
WEBSITE -
http://www.townofsmyrna.org/Departments/PublicSafety/Police.aspx
Smyrna Police mourn loss of K-9
Smyrna K-9 Officer Rowban has passed away, Police Chief Kevin Arnold
announced this morning. "Rowban,
a nine year veteran of this department,
lost his life to cancer yesterday,," Arnold stated in a news release.
Rowban was a very productive K-9 and in 2010 alone was responsible for
the recovery of marijuana, cocaine,
psilocybin mushrooms, and more than
$45,000 in cash, according to the news release. Rowban participated in
numerous school presentations and the Fire and Police Youth Academy. "Rowban will be sorely missed by
the members of the Smyrna
Police Department, his handler Officer Gary Schoon, and especially
Officer Schoon’s family," Arnold said. "K-9 Officer Rowban will be laid
to rest on Wednesday at
Smyrna Police Department’s K-9 Cemetery. The
Smyrna Police Department would especially like to thank
Woodfin Funeral
Chapels and Cripple Creek Caskets for their donation of a casket and the
Smyrna Fire Department and the Smyrna Street Department for their
assistance in the burial."
submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA
In Loving Memory of
K9 RUKKUS
August, 2012
Handler: Johnny Rodriguez
Police Dept.
address
+++++
Ongoing
training required for K-9 Unit success At the obstacle course, veteran K-9
Officer Johnny Rodriguez
guides the work of the 18-month-old German Shepherd named Raven, just two months on the job.
Rodriguez explains that K-9 training is designed to allow certification for patrol duty and for drug detection,
setting
the stage for a wide variety of law enforcement activities.
“We look for how fast they retrieve their rewards (tennis balls, etc.) and we do
have courage tests
to entice them to show aggression. But, they still must be social.”
On this evening, the obstacle course is also being used by Officer Derreck
Bachner and K-9 DiOgi, Officer Paul Alfrey
and K-9 Faro, and Officer Greg Hughes and K-9 Dex. “The training is very
physical,” Bachner explains.
“It
builds agility, confidence, and strength.” The dogs must negotiate obstacles
that simulate walls, window
openings, and sections of pipe, learning to complete assigned tasks without hesitation. Indoor
training at local
businesses prepares the dogs for building searches. “The members of the public only see the finished
product,
the polished dog,” Rodriguez says of the training process that starts when an officer is
paired with a ‘green dog’ that
arrives in Melbourne with only basic obedience training.
“The training just doesn’t ever end,” says Rodriguez. Rather, training extends
over the five years
that a K-9 normally serves before retirement, usually at the home of the officer who has been the dog’s
companion
both on the job and off.
PRST STD
U.S. Postage PAID
Melbourne, FL
32901
Permit No. 99
Alfrey explains that the effectiveness of the K-9 program hinges on the
performance of officer and dog together.
“The bonding is part of being a functional team,” he said. The four teams allow for 24-hour
coverage of
the police department shifts. The demand for the K-9 teams to perform their main jobs -- tracking people
and discovering
drugs -- is constant.
At times, the K-9 officers say, the very presence of a police dog at an arrest
scene can prevent confrontations.
“Nine out of ten times, when a suspect hears the dog barking he will get up and turn himself in,”
notes
Bachner. In other situations, the K-9 takes the point position in searches that can be
hazardous,
particularly at night. “The dog can complete the search better and
faster, and it adds to the
safety of the officers,” Bachner said.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I'm sorry to have to bring bad news to
you but my best friend, Johnny Rodriguez lost his retired K9 this evening. Rukkus
died while Johnny was at a school
all day. Johnny's family is out of state and no one was home when Rukkus died.
He is devastated that his partner
died and he couldn't be with him.
>
> Johnny asked me about the nice cards you had made up for my Ciro and Roscoe. He wants' to
know if you still do that,
and if you'll put his Rukkus on your site. I
told him that I would email you and ask. Johnny wants me to
help him write a piece for Rukkus before he's put on the site.
It will probably be a
few days before he's able to sit down with me and work on the eulogy.
I
know in the past that you said making cards was getting expensive so if there's a cost involved,
I'll cover it for
my friend.
> Let me know. Thanks
submitted by: Howard
reply: I stopped doing cards because I was getting notifications of 5 a day ... time and $ ... hubby isn't working. lu
In Loving Memory of
K9 ROMBO
July 25, 2012
Handler: Officer Gregg Tawney
Elk Grove Police
Department
8400 Laguna Palms Way
Elk Grove, California 95758
WEBSITE - http://www.elkgrovepd.org/
Elk Grove Police K-9 Dies of Apparent Heart Attack
Rombo worked as an Elk Grove Police
Department K-9 for six years
Rombo, one of the Elk Grove Police
Department's K-9s, died at 12:10 p.m. Wednesday of an
"apparent heart attack,"
the department said
on its Facebook page.
"He was the best
natured dog I have ever had the pleasure to know and work and he will be sorely
missed," Officer Gregg Tawney, Rombo's handler, wrote.
The dog was born in the
Netherlands, and earned honors while training with the Dutch police, Tawney wrote.
Rombo has worked in Elk Grove for six years,
and has found several suspects, won awards and placed in the
top three in a K-9 competition with 50 dogs. "In addition, Rombo, a favorite among kids, had completed
hundreds of demos which usually ended with all the kids petting him and
laughing at his
silly dog tricks," Tawney wrote. Rombo would have turned 9 years old next month.
submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA
In Loving Memory of
K9 ROSCO
July 23, 2012
Handler: Detective Mike Luciani
Hopatcong Police Department
111 River Styx
Rd
Hopatcong, New Jersey 07843
Hopatcong Police Dog Dies
Suddenly
Hopatcong Police Detective Mike Luciani and his dog, Rosco.
Hopatcong
police bloodhound Rosco died early Monday morning,
Chief Robert Brennan said. Michael Luciani couldn't
immediately be reached for comment. "I was shocked," Brennan said.
"He was a member of our family.
And, more importantly, he was a member of Mike's family. He wasn't just a
dog." Rosco, who spent
most of his life as a borough human-tracking dog, survived a life-threatening illness and surgery in November.
Brennan said Rosco's death was considered
"just kind of sudden." A Hopatcong Eagle Scout recently
built a dog house for Rosco at
the police department. Information regarding a memorial for
the dog wasn't
immediately known. Brennan said Rosco's
human-searching skills made him invaluable.
"It was
nice to have the ability to find someone," Brennan said. "And then he
branched out from there. He was able
to help out on burglaries. Really, anything. But
being able to find a person—that alone, he earned his
keep in that alone." Rosco was one of just
three human-tracking dogs in Sussex County. In 2008,
Rosco tracked down an elderly woman who had been
missing for three days in Stokes State Forest in Branchville.
Brennan said Luciani and Rosco
had a special relationship. "It was almost like his child because Rosco was
with him a lot," Brennan said. "He was in the car with him. It
was kind of nice. The kids and the people
just love that dog and loved seeing that dog around. It was just a
good-natured dog.
There wasn't
anybody that didn't love him. "You could walk down the street with Santa,
the Easter Bunny
and Rosco, and the kids would run to Rosco." Hopatcong honored Rosco
with a box of treats and a
"You Make a Difference" award in January.
"He has faithfully performed all the duties asked of him
and he's brought pride to the borough by assisting in solving
cases," Mayor Sylvia Petillo said at the time.
submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA
In Loving
Memory of
K9 ROCKY
Handler: Officer James Heebner
Pohatcong Township police
Warren County loses veteran
bomb-detecting K-9, Rocky
Pohatcong Township
police Officer James Heebner with his former K-9
partner, Rocky. The 11-year-old bomb-sniffing
German Shepherd
suffered from severe arthritis, and Heebner made the
difficult decision to euthanize Rocky
And for eight years, the Warren
County-based canine hunted for potential explosives throughout the state, a job
he was prepared to jump back into even in his final days. The 11-year-old
German Shepherd's handler made the
tough decision last week to have his long-time partner, who suffered from
severe arthritis, euthanized. "I'm crushed,"
said Rocky's handler Pohatcong Township police Officer James Heebner. "It's probably one of the toughest decisions
I've ever had to make. He wasn't just my partner,
he was part of the family."
Heebner and Rocky became a team in 2003
as part of the New Jersey Detect and Render Safe Task Force
organized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
At the time, the county received a $57,000 counterterrorism grant to pay for
the dog, a K-9 police vehicle
and other supplies. "He was a well-respected dog. We were a team," Heebner said. "I'd put him up against
any dog for explosives." Pohatcong Township no
longer employs a K-9 unit, but acting Chief Jeffrey Greenemeir
said this may change once construction of the municipal building is complete.
Three Warren County police departments
currently have K-9 officers, including Washington Township,
Independence Township and Phillipsburg. Rocky was the only dog in the county
trained to detect explosives,
Greenemeir said. He also served Hunterdon County,
which has one K-9 officer in Readington Township.
New Jersey State police bomb detecting K-9 units respond to incidents in both
counties. Warren County
Prosecutor Richard Burke said there are no plans in place to bring additional
bomb dogs to the county, but
said his office may be bringing in a narcotics dog.
Rocky could detect 18 different types
of explosives, Heebner said. Trained to react calmly
if he found something,
Rocky would sit and stare intently at an area where the odor was
strongest. Heebner said that he and
Rocky relied on each other like partners. "The most rewarding part of this
job is when you have a partner
that would give his life for you," Heebner said.
Throughout his career, Rocky responded to thousands of
local and regional calls. He patrolled the 2004 Republican National
Convention in Newark, as well as the 9/11
dedication ceremony at Liberty State Park in 2006 attended by Russian
President Vladimir Putin, Heebner said.
Rocky repeatedly searched the halls of Phillipsburg High School, the inside and outside of
Phillipsburg Mall
and various township grocery and department stores. If a threat was made, Rocky
was there and his partner
could trust if the canine didn't smell any explosives. "It's
instilled in you at the academy to trust your dog,"
Heebner said. Though Rocky retired in October, he was
always ready to work. "Big German Shepherd.
Kooky,
though, when it was time to work," Greenemeir
said. "He'd just go crazy." Working was innate for Rocky,
to the point that as ring bearer at Heebner's
wedding, Rocky sniffed his way down the aisle to make sure all
was clear, Heebner said. Rocky loved people, and the
feeling was mutual, especially for the Heebner
family.
"He was a good dog, a big lover," Heebner
said. "The best dog you could ever want."
submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA
In Loving Memory of
K9 RUGER
June, 2012
Handler: Trooper Steve Hills
Award-winning police dog Ruger remembered by Waldo County authorities
Ruger always got his man. That’s how law
enforcement officials around Waldo County remembered the black-and-tan
German shepherd that died in June after working for nine years as a
police K-9, sniffing out drugs, criminals and lost
people around the state. “Ruger was a
great dog,” Waldo County Deputy District Attorney Eric Walker said last
week.
“He worked around here for so long. He had a great reputation.
He’s going to be missed.” Ruger went on a
thousand calls during his career with Maine State Police Trooper Steve Hills of
Belfast. He retired in December of
2010, which is a long run for a police K-9, Hills said.
Ruger and Hills were named the state’s K-9 team of
the year in 2004 and 2005. Ruger did not die in the
line of duty.
He was put to sleep on June 20 after suffering serious health problems.
“On his last day, I picked him up in
the cruiser,” Hills said. It was always
Ruger’s
favorite place to be — but during his retirement months, his usual
place behind the trooper was taken by a new K-9, Lola. “It broke me up.
He finally got his way, that one last time,”
the trooper said, sorrow apparent in his voice. “But he
wasn’t going to come home.” Police dogs play a special role
in Maine law enforcement.
Like their
handlers, they get called out at all hours of the day and night for all types
of incidents. They go through
rigorous training, with a 12-week patrol school at the beginning of their
careers and then with 16 hours of
training each and every month thereafter.
Ruger and
Hills also completed an eight-week narcotic school program
early in Ruger’s career, making him one of the
first drug-sniffing dogs in the state. “K-9s are obviously
hugely important,” Walker said. “When someone runs from police into
the woods, or there’s a situation with a
lost person in the woods, that can make all the difference in some cases
between life and death.
It is an
incredibly useful tool for law enforcement.” But police K-9s are not
always on the clock. Ruger was Hills’
K-9 partner and he was also the family pet. “He was a great pet.
Great with my family,” the trooper said.
“Every single night, he would go into each bedroom and check on the
kids.” When Hills picked up Ruger in 2002,
he was already a full-grown adult dog, full of energy and with a stubborn
streak. “He and I would butt
heads sometimes,” Hills said. “Sometimes that’s what makes a
good police dog — dogs with a mind of their
own. He was a thinker.”
One example of
Ruger’s independent ways was the time when he and
Hills received a complaint of a stolen vehicle
in Northport. As Hills was chasing down the car on a dark, foggy night,
he noticed movement coming from
the stolen vehicle. After the driver was caught, he said that he had thrown a
brick of heroin out the window,
and Hills gave Ruger a perimeter to search for
the illicit drugs. “Ruger wouldn’t stay
in that boundary.
He kept trying to take off,” Hills
remembered. “He didn’t want to do what I wanted him to do.
But what
Ruger was trying to tell me was that it
wasn’t a brick of heroin. It was a person who had
jumped out of the car and run away.”
He said that he
learned from that experience, and others like it. Another memorable call that
did involve
illicit drugs came when Ruger was in Augusta,
searching a car impounded from a suspected drug dealer
by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency. Officers had hand-searched the vehicle
without finding anything.
Ruger “alerted,” pointing to a spot
on the driver’s side of the vehicle. Police searched again and found
nothing.
They figured that the dog might have been confused by the scent of
residual drugs that were no longer in the car.
But Ruger was adamant. Something was there. Eventually, the
German shepherd grabbed hold of the rug
on the driver’s side and started to growl. Officers found a hidden
compartment in the rocker panel
where $25,000 worth of drugs and a handgun were squirreled away. The drug
dealer would have gotten his
car back eventually if it hadn’t been for
Ruger,
Hills said. Another incident that Hills recalled brought tears
to his eyes. A few years ago, he and
Ruger were
called to find a suicidal man who had taken an overdose of
prescription drugs and wandered into the woods. “When I got there, the
ambulance personnel estimated that
we had about an hour,” he said.
He and Ruger began to track a scent — but another officer
had been searching in the woods and Hills
suspected that the dog was actually tracking the wrong person. The clock was
ticking. “This is urgent.
We’re afraid this man’s going to die,” Hills said. At one
point during the search, Ruger’s head had
snapped
in a different direction, and Hills made note of their location. Later,
they returned to the place where
his head had snapped and Ruger found another track to
follow. “We found the man. He was up against a tree,
crying and still taking pills,” Hills said. “The man was saved. And
one of his family members said, ‘Thank you.
There will be a
special place in heaven for you and your dog.’” Hills said that he
didn’t want to make it seem
like Ruger was a perfect police dog. “He
did his job,” he said. “I don’t want it to come across like
I’m boasting.”
But Ruger loved his job as a police K-9. He retired
twice — the first time in 2009, after which he quickly was
brought back to duty because his replacement washed out of K-9 school.
“He was so excited to come back to
work. He was like a kid,” Hills said. “Ruger
was a good dog, and I loved him.”
submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA
In Loving Memory of
K9 RUCKUS
July 18, 2012
Handler: Officer Daniel
Gumm
Wichita Police Department
455 N. Main
Wichita, KS
67202
WEBSITE -
http://www.wichita.gov/CityOffices/Police/
Retired Wichita police dog dies;
another one joins the force
K-9 Ruckus was
put down earlier this week after a large lesion on his lungs and fusions of his
spine were discovered.
Former WPD K-9 Ruckus
was put down earlier this week after a large lesion on his lungs and fusions of
his spine were
discovered.
Retired Wichita police dog Ruckus was put down this
week after a large lesion on his lungs and fusions on his spine
were
discovered, department officials said. Ruckus served with Officer Daniel
Gumm for three and a half years
at Wichita Police Department’s Patrol West. “Most of the Belgian Malinois dogs are
really high-energy dogs,” Gumm said.
“He
was really mellow and laid back. He always knew what was going on.”
Ruckus was a narcotics K-9 and
trained in handler
protection. His main duties included sniffing vehicles, houses and mail.
Gumm said there
was one instance where a suspect looked
like he was starting to run and just the sight of Ruckus caused the
man to lie
on the ground and be apprehended.
“He had a great nose for narcotics, very
dependable,” Gumm said. “They were all
dependable, but I’m partial
to him because he was mine. Some of them can
be hard-headed, but he wasn’t ever really that way.” Ruckus
retired
10 weeks before his death. Gumm said the K-9 program
is switching to patrol dogs, which would
include apprehending and tracking.
After Ruckus retired, Gumm received a new dog named
Rooster. “It’s
different going from a dog that’s almost 7
years old and knows the game and knows what’s going on to one
that’s about 14 weeks old and still a pup,”
Gumm
said. “He’s got a lot of energy.
submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA
In Loving Memory of
K9 RC
June 20, 2012
Handler:
Deputy Eric Briehof
Sullivan County Sheriff's
Office
New York
|
Sheriff's Department Utilizes K-9 Partner
By Jeanne Sager
MONTICELLO — August 3, 2007 — Bad guys beware: the newest
addition to the Sullivan County Sheriff’s patrol unit has a real nose
for the job.
For the first time in almost two decades, the Sheriff’s office has a
K-9 unit driving the roads of Sullivan County.
Sheriff Michael Schiff, one-time canine handler for the New York State
Police, secured a grant from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice
Services to bring back a program ended in 1988. Deputy Eric
Briehof, a three-year member of the force, hit the road
with his four-legged partner last month. In just four weeks on the job,
they’ve handled 10 K-9-specific calls, Briehof
said, from the first day when they arrested three suspected crooks at a
burglary in progress.
The Jeffersonville resident has been in law enforcement for four years, and
he’s wanted the K-9 spot from the moment he put on a uniform.
When Schiff announced a new opportunity within the department,
Briehof applied and went through the interview process.
“There was a lot of interest,” Schiff said. “But Eric came
out on top as the best all-around candidate.”
The department sent
Briehof to an intensive
training course in Orange County with his new partner, a German Shepherd
brought in fresh from a breeder in the Czech Republic. The two met just
days before their classes began – Briehof was
allowed to stop in when the company that vets police dogs checked out the
pups sent over from Europe.
Along with RC – named as police force tradition dictates after a fallen
officer (Rob Chemerys died in the early 1980s)
– Briehof spent four months learning a new
kind of police work. RC, now 17 months, spends almost 24 hours a day
with his master.
He lives in the Briehof home with the deputy, his
wife and four children.
The family was part of the interview process for the Sheriff’s new dog
handler.
“They needed to be ready to take on the responsibility of having that
dog live with them,” Schiff explained.
“Now, if you want to take that dog away from that family, you’d
have to come armed,” he added with a laugh. “They love that
dog.”
“They lay on top of him, they pull his ears, they love him,”
Briehof said of his kids.
RC plays with the
Briehofs’ other dog and
puts up with the family cat – his calm, easy demeanor was part of the
reason he was hooked with a deputy who has a family. But on the street,
he’s all police dog. “When it’s time to go to work,
he’s scratching at the door,” Briehof
noted. “He’s chomping at the bit to get out there; he knows
it’s time to go to work. “When he sees me put on my
uniform, he runs straight to the door.”
The duo will have to go back for more training this fall to have RC certified
as a narcotics dog, but he’s already well prepared to track down
criminals. Until he came onboard, the Sheriff’s Office depended
on the help of other agencies to provide tracking and apprehension services.
That meant calling on the State Police, Village of Monticello or Town of
Fallsburg – sometimes costing precious time because
the other officers were otherwise engaged. Now Briehof
works a specific shift, but he’s on call 24 hours a day, seven days a
week.
If a call comes in for RC, the two hop in the
Sheriff’s Office new Blazer, outfitted specifically for a K-9 unit and
paid for by the $50,000 grant that has covered all but Briehof’s
salary – a sum already paid by the department. “The way the
county’s going, we could easily use three more,”
Briehof admitted. “I’d say there were
easily 50 calls so far this year where we could have used
him.” That’s not including the 10 calls since the K-9
team graduated from the academy in June. Briehof
spends 10 to 15 minutes a day with RC just going over their basic commands to
keep him on the ball. “I strive to make sure the Sheriff’s
office has a good working dog,” he noted. But the rest of
the time, Briehof said it’s nice to have
someone along for the ride. “You couldn’t ask for a better
partner,” he said with a grin. “Although sometimes I can’t
get rid of him – I get up to go to the bathroom at 2 o’clock in
the morning and he’s right behind me!” On the road,
that’s not a problem.
Although he’ll roll around on the floor with the
Briehof
children, he’s trained to protect his handler. “If you were
to shove me or push me, he’s going to protect me,”
Briehof said. “I have immediate
back-up.” he
Briehof and RC team has already proved itself as an asset
to the county, Schiff said. “The first one out is going to blaze
the trail,” he noted. As the Sheriff’s office looks into
future grant opportunities to expand the K-9 program, Schiff said
there’s a shining example already patrolling the streets of just what
the dogs can do for the safety of Sullivan County.
Numerous
police officers and county leaders attended the funeral in Sullivan County of
an active duty police dog in the county sheriff's office. The 6-year-old
German shepherd RC was put down June 16 after suffering from a critical
intestinal ailment. Officers from numerous regional police agencies, and
their dogs, lined the walkway to the Government Center, saluting as RC was
carried in procession to the wail of bagpipe music. The small coffin was
draped with an American flag decorated with the dog's picture and dates. The
funeral was attended by a who's who of Sullivan leaders, including District
Attorney Jim Farrell, Sheriff Mike Schiff, Legislature Chairman Scott
Samuelson, County Manager David Fanslau and
Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, D-C-Forestburgh. RC was assigned to Deputy Eric
Breihof, who choked up at times and had trouble finishing
a short eulogy.
Schiff,
Breihof's wife, a priest and fellow police officer also
gave emotional testimonials. "He was the most loyal, most devoted,
fearless partner you could have," Breihof said.
RC lived at Breihof's home as a member of the
family. He called the dog "my best friend." RC was born on Feb. 26,
2006, and trained with Breihof at the Orange County
Sheriff's Academy in Montgomery, where he was buried with a headstone. The
dog was named after former Sullivan County Deputy Robert Chemerys,
who died at age 31 from cancer in 1982. Chemerys'
son attended the dog's funeral. Sullivan County's law enforcement community
also lost another beloved dog. JT, a retired state police dog assigned to
Trooper Matt Johnstone, also died June 16.
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In Loving Memory of
K9 ROVER
June 2012
Handler: Sgt. Jay Turner
Muncie Police Department
300 N. High St.
K-9 Unit (620
S. Mulberry St.):
Muncie,
IN
47305
765-747-4710
K9 police dog lived a good life
Rover's life celebrated with military funeral
Dogs are often thought of as
man’s best friend. That was especially the case for Sgt. Jay Turner and
his dog, Rover.
Rover served on the Muncie Police Department from 2000 to 2010
before he was put into retirement.
He died last week, and a military funeral
was held for him on Sunday. Turner acquired Rover back in 2000 when
the dog was
just 3 years old. Turner happened to be in Chicago training K9 units when he
and Rover were
introduced. The dog was actually being trained for the Chicago
Police Department, but the trainer there
thought Rover would make a better fit
for Muncie because of his size.
The transition wasn’t exactly an
easy one for Rover. Turner said the dog was scared to leave the kennel and
all
of the officers were afraid to open it up and grab him. “I figured I was
going to go in there and get bit
or I was going to be his handler,” he
said. “We had it out in the kennel right then, and from then on it
was a
good relationship.” After that, Turner said, Rover fit right in with his
family. “Rover came into our family
just like he belonged there,”
he said. Rover was special from the start, according to Turner. He was able
to
flip the difficult switch between work and family, a task with which police
dogs often struggle.
“He was a unique dog in the fact that on the street
he could be so mean,” Turner said.
“But I could get a bite at 4 in
the morning and by 8 in the morning have him in the kindergarten class and kids
petting him and climbing all over him, and he loved it.” Rover quickly
became well known around the community
and especially among the suspects he
apprehended. One of Turner’s favorite Rover stories involves a time
when
they chased a suspect and Rover had to bite the suspect’s arm to catch
him. Turner said,
"We walked the suspect by the car and he turned to Rover
and said, ‘You got me a good one that time, Rover.’”
Despite
making his reputation on the streets of Muncie, Rover was a family dog. It is
typically
recommended the K9 dogs be kept in the kennel when at home, but
Turner said Rover was always inside with his family.
“When I was off doing something
else, he was there to protect them, too, so that was pretty cool,” he
said.
Turner described his personal relationship with Rover as being
“best friends.” “Whether I was at work or not,
he was with
me,” he said. “I spent more time with him than I did with my family
because we were working
anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day and he was with me
all that time.” Turner and Rover shared many
moments together, including
some that showed the dog’s comic personality. Rover would often take a
drink
of water and intentionally smear the remaining drool and water mix on
Turner’s shirt, many times leaving it soaking wet.
Although there were many laughable
moments, Turner also remembered one particular instance when Rover
could have
saved his life. It was a routine traffic stop and, because the department was
short that night,
Turner allowed Rover to come out of the car with him.
“Rover broke away from me and tried to jump into the
window and was
barking at the guy and I thought something just wasn’t right,” he
said. Turner said he
ordered the man to exit the car and when he apprehended
him, he discovered a cocked and loaded 9mm pistol
sitting in the front seat. He
said Rover had never broken away from him before. “He knew something was
wrong,”
he said. Turner was convinced Rover very well might have saved
his life.
Rover had been very ill the past few
months, and Turner knew the end had been coming for a while.
A military funeral
wasn’t in his original plans for his best friend. “Actually, what I
wanted to do was cremate
him and put him in my casket when I kick,” he
said. Turner’s wife, along with his close friend
Hagerstown Police Chief
Kieth Folkner, planned the funeral
and Turner wasn’t aware of it until two days before.
“He was a
fantastic dog and he’s going to be missed,” he said.
submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA
In Loving Memory of
K9 ROKI
April 25, 2012
Handler: Patrolman Matthew C. Riley
Narragansett Police
Department
25 Fifth Ave.
Narragansett, RI 02882
Police Dog
Roki Passes Away
Only two months into
retirement, former Narragansett police dog Roki
passes away after medical complications.
Narragansett
Police K-9 Roki passed away on April 25, 2012 after a
short two months into retirement. Roki suffered
medical complications and had to be put to sleep. Roki
was placed into service in October 2002. He was purchased
as a fully trained
patrol and narcotics K-9 through Sukee Kennels in
Warren, Maine. Roki has worked for
the Narragansett
Police since that time. Roki was utilized more than
1,000 times in the last nine years.
He located numerous breaking and entering
suspects, and received a number of commendations for his
outstanding
performance.
He also visited
all three schools in Narragansett as a public relations tool, and conducted
demonstrations
for them, the Boy Scouts of America and the Community Police
Academy. Roki assisted with the seizure
of three
pounds of cocaine, 125 pounds of marijuana, 10 ounces of crack cocaine, five
ounces of heroin,
five pounds of mushrooms and hundreds of pills of ecstasy.
The largest seizure was a kilo of cocaine in
the rear of a motor vehicle in
November 2002. Roki is also credited with seizing
close to $100,000
in US currency. Roki was used by
this department many times with great success since 2002.
He was used by
many outside agencies for tracking and drug searches repeatedly through his 10
year career
with patrolman Matthew C. Riley. The two were featured several
times in the local papers, which wrote
about their success as a team. Riley and
Roki seized a large amount of drugs off the road
after a 10-year
career together. Roki was recently
replaced by K-9 Goro in March 2012. Departments using
Roki’s
services include Tiverton Police,
Newport Police, Providence Police, South Kingstown Police, Westerly Police,
Charlestown Police, North Kingstown Police, the DEA, ICE, U.S. Customs,
Jamestown Police and Hopkinton Police.
Both were members of the Connecticut
Police Work Dog Association from 2006-2011.
submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA
In Loving
Memory of
K9 RITA
March 28, 2012
Handler: Trooper Shaun Smart
Southwest Regional Crime Patrol
Ohio State Highway Patrol
Patrol mourns loss of K-9 partner
K9 Officer Rita passed away shortly
after retiring from the Patrol due to health reasons.
Troopers are mourning the loss of a
beloved member of the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Southwest Regional
Crime Patrol.
K-9 Rita passed away Wednesday. Rita recently retired due to
poor health after seven years with
her partner, Trooper Shaun Smart. The Patrol says Rita was responsible
for the detection of millions
of dollars in illegal drugs, cash and other contraband.
submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA
In Loving Memory of
K9 ROSCO
March 19, 2012
Handler: Officer Joseph Rodriguez
Atlantic City Police Dept.
2711 Atlantic Avenue
(609) 347-5779
begin_of_the_skype_highlighting
FREE (609)
347-5779 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Atlantic City,
New Jersey 08401
A police dog has been diagnosed with
cancer and will be euthanized, the Police Department announced today.
Rosko -- the partner of K-9 training officer Joseph
Rodriguez has earned numerous awards
and won lots of fans in his demonstrations for the city's children.
Rosko also captured Christopher Blank, who led police
on an overnight search in 2006
after he shot two Egg Harbor Township officers after fleeing a motor
vehicle stop.
Those who wish to say goodbye to Rosko may do so 3
p.m. Monday at the Redbank Animal Hospital in
Linwood.
submitted by Frank Brunetti,
NJ
Atlantic
City police dog has cancer, will be euthanized By LYNDA COHEN, Staff Writer
pressofAtlanticCity.com
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++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ailing hero K-9 gets NJ police salute
before death
LINWOOD, N.J. — Ailing
Rosko the K-9 got a farewell befitting a police dog who
once
captured a man who shot two policemen.
K-9 officers stand at attention with their dogs as the Atlantic
City Police Department car carrying Rosko arrives
at
the Red Bank Veterinary Clinic in Linwood, N.J., Monday March 19 2012. ACPD K-9
dog Rosko was put to
sleep
Monday afternoon at the clinic. The sad event drew police dogs and trainers
from all over New Jersey.
Rosko was suffering from cancer. (AP Photo/The Press of Atlantic City, Ben Fogletto)
K-9 officers stand at attention with their dogs as the Atlantic
City Police Department K-9 officer and partner,
Joe
Rodriguez walks Rosko to the Red Bank Veterinary
Clinic in Linwood, N.J. Monday, March 19, 2012.
ACPD
K-9 dog Rosko was put to sleep Monday afternoon at
the clinic. The sad event drew police dogs and trainers
from
all over New Jersey. Rosko was suffering from cancer.
(AP Photo/The Press of Atlantic City, Ben
Fogletto)
K-9 officers wait with their dogs for the ACPD car carrying
Rosko to arrive at the Red Bank Veterinary Clinic in
Linwood,
N.J., Monday March 19 2012. ACPD K-9 dog Rosko was put to sleep
Monday afternoon at the clinic.
The
sad event drew police dogs and trainers from all over New Jersey.
Rosko was suffering from cancer.
(AP
Photo/The Press of Atlantic City, Ben
Fogletto)
In Loving Memory of
K9 ROSCO
March, 2012
Handler: Officer Glenn Thompson
Fort Myers Police Department
Florida
The Fort
Myers Police Department will give K-9 Rosco full
honors during his funeral today.
The service starts at 11am at
MacGregor Baptist
Church on Colonial Blvd.
Rosco was killed last week during an attempted
robbery about a mile away from the funeral location.
Rosco and his handler chased one of the
suspects and the K-9 was killed when the suspect shot at them.
The officer returned fire and killed the suspect.
Police officials say it easily could have been
Rosco's
handler that was shot but the K-9 took the bullet.
Rosco was trained in both patrol and narcotics. He
would have been four in January.
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