Many of us enjoy rewarding ourselves for a job well done. Whether it’s a new outfit, a nice dinner or just putting our paycheck in the bank, we work for something. But for some of our hardest-working officers in Jefferson County, it’s all for nothing more than a piece of PVC pipe.

We’re not talking about sheriff deputies or police officers. We are talking about their sidekicks…K9 officers.

These dogs train day in and day out to stay focused on their mission: to keep crime at bay. But they have no idea what impact they are making. Read More

A veteran Port Elizabeth police dog tracked down hijackers on the run after they hijacked a school minibus in Motherwell on Tuesday morning.

The arrest stems from the hijacking of an empty school minibus in Busiwe Street, Motherwell, at about 5.30am.

At the time of the hijacking, only the 34-year-old driver was inside the vehicle as he was still en route to collect school children in the area.

Seven-year-old German shepherd Jack had managed to catch three of the four suspects within two hours after the hijacking.

Jack is a veteran patrol and explosive detection dog who has been at the Port Elizabeth K9 unit for about six years. Read More

Police in St. Charles County seized more than $750,000 worth of marijuana and THC-laced vape cartridges late Monday evening during a traffic stop on Interstate 70.

According to Val Joyner, a spokeswoman for the St. Charles County Police Department, the incident occurred just before midnight on April 29, near the Wentzville Parkway exit.

A county officer pulled over a 2018 Toyota Tacoma for speeding and improperly displayed plates. Read More

There’s a new cop on the job at the Arizona State University Police Department, and she’s got some big paws to fill.

Nala is the department’s newest K9 in training, taking over for Tillman, who retired for medical reasons a few months ago.

Nala is a German shorthaired pointer, a breed that, according to the American Kennel Club is friendly, smart and willing to please.

Like Tillman, Nala will train to be a bomb protection dog. Read More

Nothing gets by K-9 Rosco! The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office canine officer was on patrol with his partner Deputy Tyler Habart when Rosco’s instincts took over and “suggested that Tyler conduct a traffic stop on a nearby vehicle,” according to Sheriff Wayne Ivey.

The Sheriff’s Office said that the two men arrested are convicted felons and each were in possession of one of the guns. Read More

Recently, Evangelical Community Hospital received a special visit from Mariska, a Belgian Malinois dog from Holland, who joined the Watsontown Police Department in January 2019.

Mariska and Patrolman Tim Kiefaber work together every shift where her specialty is illegal narcotics detention. Mariska can smell heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana. The growing drug epidemic in the county, state and country fueled this Police K-9 Program. In the short time Mariska has been on the force, she has assisted in 12 significant drug seizures.

The visit was meant to thank Evangelical Community Hospital and Kendra Aucker, President and CEO, for choosing the K9 program as an area of work in the community to be supported by the hospital. Throughout the year, a special committee evaluates different ways to give back to the community as a way of supporting the areas in which employees and patients live, work, and play. The goal is always to build safer and healthier communities. Read More

The pup who slobbered on my face, with my consent, of course, was Sargent, a 9½-year-old Belgian Malinois and senior team member of the Fontana police K-9 unit in Fontana, California. Sergeant Kurt Schlotterbeck, who commands the K-9 unit, explains, “The perception of a police dog is that of a vicious animal. Our dogs aren’t vicious. Every training, before they start, we walk up to them, shake the handler’s hand, and pet the dog on the head. We want them [the dogs] to be social.”

I sat down with Sergeant Schlotterbeck and Sargent’s handler, Officer Mark Wyrick, to learn more about the work they and their dogs do. Wyrick, like all the K-9 handlers in the unit, spent time on the traditional police force before applying to the specialized K-9 team. Once chosen, he was paired with Sargent, and the two went through a 240-hour training course to make them a skilled team.

Sargent, like all dogs currently on the Fontana force, is cross-trained in two specialties. His training includes suspect apprehension and narcotics/firearms detection. Wyrick and Sargent’s training didn’t end after that first extensive session; it is continuous. Most of the unit’s dogs work for six to seven years, starting between the ages of 18 months to 3 years old. Even Sargent, who is near retirement age, takes part in 10-hour practice sessions with the unit and individual training with Wyrick during their shift. Wyrick has a bite sleeve and other training tools in his patrol vehicle so he can meet up with another K-9 unit for some in-field practice. Read More

Signs of spring are blooming at Our Lady of Grace Catholic School in Noblesville. Everyone there knows that means the end of the school year is just around the corner.

“It’s been kind of hard to keep going because we’re so close and I really just want to get done with it and move on to high school,” said Luke Moody, who is in 8th grade.

Luke is doing his best to focus as he finishes his last few weeks at the middle school. Among other things standing in the way of summer, he has a global issues project to finish for science class.

“This is like their big science presentation versus a science fair for 8th grade,” said Angela Bond, who is Luke’s science teacher.

Some students decided to work on bringing alumni back to their campus for a kickball game, help people in Haiti or donate socks to the homeless. But Luke had a different idea.

“I did some research and I found that this was actually a pretty big problem,” said Luke. “A lot of police departments don’t have the funds to provide high quality vests for the K-9 officers.” Read More

The Brookings County Sheriff’s Office has a new deputy with unique skills.

Arras, a 3-year-old Belgian Malinois, has joined the department as a drug/apprehension/tracking dog. He is partnered with Deputy Manny Langstraat.

The Sheriff’s Office recently retired Buddy, a drug detection dog, and Sheriff Marty Stanwick wanted his next K-9 officer to have a wider range of skills so he could be utilized in different cases they are encountering more often.

“Seems like a lot of times, a person’s not afraid of an officer, but when that dog starts barking and growling, they kind of sit up and take notice of that. It’s just another tool for law enforcement to use,” Stanwick. Read More