Police: K-9 units key law enforcement tool

A police officer takes an oath to keep the community safe: They patrol the streets and hunt down criminals, but sometimes situations arise when only four-legged, scent-driven crime fighters can finish the job. These loyal and dogged K-9 officers are invaluable in sniffing out drugs and tracking down fleeing felons. They can be counted on to jump to the call of duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

These specialized K-9 units have been trained and certified in arson, narcotics detection, article searches (locating stolen property or weapons), bomb-sniffing, and tracking and obedience. They are also deployed to combat drug use in area schools when random sweeps are conducted.

Most K-9 officers are German shepherds bred and trained in Europe.

“German shepherds are a very intelligent breed, but mainly they are chosen due to their drive,” said Waterford Township Police Department K-9 Handler Annette Miller. “Our K-9s come from a main kennel in Holland, but from different sporting groups through Europe, including Germany, Slovakia, and Poland.”

The dogs typical begin their pre-service training when they are between 14- and 24-months-old.

“As part of this, they learn special odors they will be working with like bombs or drugs, and that’s continued at an academic program,” Miller said.

During pre-service training, each K-9 shows predispositions toward a certain skill set and is trained accordingly. They are not cross-trained. Each is assigned to assist law enforcement in narcotics, arson, or bomb detection.

Once they are shipped to their new base camp, they continue training for five weeks.

“We, as a team, attend a five-week program at the K-9 academy at Oakland Community College, where we are taught detector work, tracking, and aggression and control work,” Miller said.

Tracking is used in locating missing persons, drug and bomb detection, as well as finding articles during building and area searches. Initially the dog is taught in baby steps.

For example, training begins by having a dog track an object for about 50 or 100 feet. The trainer uses a hot dog — or something similar — as bait. The dog is taught to keep its nose down and follow the scent of the hot dog, as well as the person holding it. As training continues, the bait is used less frequently so that the person’s scent becomes the focal point while the tracks are augmented. This continues until the dog is fully trained in tracking a human scent for long tracks.

During the training program, the handler learns how to control the dog’s behavior and aggression.

“We learn how and when to engage the suspect, but we have to control our dog also, so we learn when to release the K-9 and when to recall them if the suspect surrenders,” Miller said.

Continuous training is mandated by the state, and each K-9 unit must undergo 16 hours of training per month, according to Miller.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) — which has substations in Commerce and Highland townships — first started its K-9 unit program back in 2000. The department currently has 16 units comprised of two bomb dogs, one trained in arson investigations, and 13 others trained in tracking, property recovery, handler protection, and narcotics detection.

However, only a few substations throughout Oakland County have their own dog, according to Sergeant Joseph Lambourn of the department’s Patrol Division.

“We share the K-9 units,” Lambourn explained. “We have different deputies who will work in different areas. Their home base might be at the Commerce Substation, but they could work in Rochester Hills one day and then be in Pontiac the next.”

And while the OCSD normally offers support to all surrounding police departments, it isn’t above needing assistance in the K-9 department at times, as well.

“If we have a bomb threat at a high school and it’s more than what we can handle, we will get additional (K-9) help from the tri-county area,” Lambourn said. “For example, if there was a bomb threat at a high school in Rochester or Walled Lake, Detroit might send us some help — and it’s a reciprocal agreement. At the (North American International Auto Show), we supported them.”

All of the OCSD dogs come from Europe, often Yugoslavia or the Czech Republic. While many of the dogs are German shepherds, occasionally the OCSD will use Belgian malinois and Dutch shepherds, according to Lambourn. However, all of the department’s dogs are from Europe and all are male.

When the OCSD gets a dog, it’s first trained in basic obedience, mastering simple commands such as “sit” and “stay.” The dogs then begin their enhanced training with their handlers at Oakland Community College in Auburn Hills and at the Oakland Police Academy.

In order to be chosen as a K-9 officer in the OCSD, the interested candidate must submit their name on the list. According to the OCSD website, each applicant must have three years seniority with the department and at least one year in patrol services.

“We take a look at the list of names submitted,” Lambourn said. “We try to make our decision by looking at past training, the character of the officer, and past employment.”

The officer and K-9 team then stay and live together. The finished team is provided a special vehicle and weekly training in order to maintain and reinforce their skills, and the county covers all expenses for the K-9.

According to Lambourn, Sheriff Michael Bouchard has been “very supportive of the K-9 units.”

In fact, the department gained two more teams last year when the OCSD began providing police services to the city of Pontiac.

So far, the department’s K-9 Division has been a “huge” success, according to Lambourn.

One of the success stories includes the apprehension of a murder suspect and the murder weapon in a Detroit homicide just last year.

“There was a body on 8 Mile (Road), and the crime scene was secured,” Lambourn said. “Deputy Gary Murray sets his dog out, and he follows the scent to a house in Detroit, which he circles. Inside, we located one of the responsibles. And then the dog was indicating he wanted to go on the roof. The murder weapon was on top of the roof. That was just great police work.”

K-9 units have also been used to help locate missing people, as well as locating drugs, such as when they assisted the U.S. Homeland Security and Border Patrol in finding a plane filled with drugs at Oakland County International Airport within the last two years.

“They are used all over, really, to help keep the citizens of Oakland County safe,” Lambourn said. “I’m really proud of them and the job they do for Oakland County.”

In west Oakland County, two law enforcement agencies have K-9 units on site to be deployed whenever a case requires immediate response, including Waterford and West Bloomfield. According to Lambourn, there is no full-time K-9 unit stationed at the OCSD’s Commerce Township or Highland Township substations.

K-9 assistance is extended to surrounding communities free of charge. The consensus among all jurisdictions is that K-9 units are invaluable tools that often lead to catching the bad guys who would otherwise be left to roam the streets.

WATERFORD TOWNSHIP

The Waterford Township Police Department began funding four K-9 teams beginning in the 1980s. By the early 2000s, the department acquired the dog Quatto and, following his retirement, there was a 5-year lag when the township opted not to fund the program.

“Due to funding, (township) administration said it was no longer a priority,” Miller said.

Today, Waterford employs two handlers, Miller and Officer Brian Illingworth. Illingworth handles Bandit, who has served since January 2008 and has performed numerous successful tracks during that timeframe. Born in March 2006 in Slovakia, Bandit began training with Illingworth in October 2007.

Tondo, Miller’s K-9, was born in Poland in February 2009 and was personally selected for Miller in April 2010. The team reported for their first day of service on June 5, 2010. To his credit, Tondo has located a felon, three arson suspects, a number of stolen articles, and has performed many other successful tracks.

“Our K-9s are very valuable based on their success rates,” Miller said. “We document every time they are used and write up reports. In just the last two weeks, they have had successful tracks on an armed robbery and home invasion.”

That incident came on Tuesday, Feb. 8, when Illingworth and Bandit were dispatched to a business in Holly to track an armed robbery suspect who fled the scene on foot. The team tracked the suspect across the street and onto the sidewalk, where it is more difficult to pick up a scent. After another two blocks, Bandit stopped in a front yard and Illingworth called off the track. Apparently the suspect resided at the home where the track stopped, had jumped into his vehicle and left. Holly police officers stopped the suspect and found stolen property from a prior burglary and arrested the suspect.

Similarly, Waterford police, utilizing the assistance of a K-9 unit, apprehended a pair of suspects in a Jan. 31 home invasion that occurred on Irwindale Court.

Officers responded to the area of Irwindale Drive and Irwindale Court to investigate a suspicious vehicle. An alert citizen called 911 after observing the passenger of the suspicious vehicle walk behind a home.

Arriving officers located the suspicious vehicle and arrested the driver, a 30-year-old Waterford man, on outstanding traffic warrants.

Officers subsequently located a home on Irwindale Court that had been broken into through a sliding glass door. Tondo began to track from where a passenger exited the suspicious vehicle to the home on Irwindale Court. The track continued east toward the area of Pontiac Lake Road and Highland Road into a business parking lot, where the suspect was located and arrested without incident.

“That led to him confessing to four other home invasions,” Miller said.

Waterford Township assumes the financial responsibility for the K-9 officers, but in many instances grants help defray the costs that typically are pegged at $12,000 for start-up needs, including acquisition of the dog and its training, as well as basic equipment.

Maintenance costs average $1,500 per year for veterinary bills, food and equipment, or additional service training.

“We train together once a week, every week, with the Southeast Michigan K-9 Training Group with 8 to 10 other communities to keep up to speed and for liability purposes so we surpass the training required by law,” Miller said.

Most handlers house their K-9s at their personal residences during off-duty hours.

“There are costs incurred by choice by the handlers, but (the dogs’) basic needs are paid for by the department,” Miller said. “We receive compensation for taking care of the dogs — by law we are compensated 2.5 hours, whether it be in time off or through monetary compensation.”

WALLED LAKE

The city of Walled Lake enlists the services of the OCSD or neighboring communities when there is a need for the help of a K-9 unit.

“We use them for vehicle searches, occasional house checks — more often for tracks of someone fleeing a vehicle or at the scene to check cars for drugs,” said Police Chief Paul Shakinas, who estimates that city law enforcement requires the use of K-9 services once or twice a month.

“I would say their success rate is a little greater than 50 percent, but it depends on the circumstances,” Shakinas said. “Over the last few years, however, there have been no successful K-9 tracks (in Walled Lake cases).”

Walled Lake first turns to the OCSD for a K-9 unit when the need arises. If none are available, he would next ask Novi or West Bloomfield for help.

“They are the closest,” he said. “Otherwise, it could be up to an hour response time.”

WOLVERINE LAKE

Likewise, Wolverine Lake calls upon the OCSD to dispatch a K-9 unit on occasion.

“They and surrounding area departments have been helpful in assisting us,” said Police Captain John Ellsworth. “We use them usually for tracking suspects in home invasions or larceny from auto cases, as well as drug detection. Occasionally, we also use them for a missing person, but mainly for crimes.”

Like in other police departments, Ellsworth and his team count on K-9 units to find clues that humans are unable to detect.

“They are valuable tools for departments,” he said. “I remember there was a guy who had outstanding warrants and we pulled him over during a traffic stop, but he bailed. With the help of the OCSD’s K-9 unit, he was found hiding under a low hanging pine tree. We had walked by him, but the dog kept pulling us back. We wouldn’t have caught that guy without the K-9 officer.”

ORCHARD LAKE

While the city of Orchard Lake doesn’t require K-9 units as often as larger communities in west Oakland, it still sometimes utilizes the dogs’ unique skills in certain situations.

“We use them if a crime is committed and the suspect flees on foot,” said Police Chief Joe George. “We’ve also needed them for armed robberies and home invasions.”

He added that K-9s are excellent tools during raids or traffic stops to search for drugs.

“If they can pick up on something, then we could go for a warrant,” George said.

Orchard Lake typically contacts the OCSD or the city’s much larger neighbor, West Bloomfield Township, to dispatch a K-9 unit when one is needed.

George said K-9 units were deployed quite often during his tenure with the Southfield Police Department.

“We had good luck with dogs,” he said. “They would find people hiding or track suspects who bailed out of vehicles, even though fields and swamps. Many suspects give up when they hear the dogs because they don’t want an encounter with one of them. Ultimately, the success rate is dependent on the conditions. The key is to make sure the track is not destroyed so they can pick up the scent.”

WIXOM

Wixom relies on the OCSD or Novi to provide K-9 assistance to track fleeing suspects or search for contraband.

Director of Public Safety Director Clarence Goodlein estimated that, in 2010, his department requested K-9 back-up between six and eight times. An estimate for 2011 K-9 assistance requests was not available.

“K-9 service is extremely valuable and if we could afford it we would move in that direction ourselves,” he said. “We would use the service more to perform routine functions, but right now we depend on others, so we don’t use it with regularity and (we) reserve (it) for important situations.”

Goodlein lauds K-9 units for their stellar training and committed service.

“My impression is that most are well-trained and do a great job,” he said. “Success depends on conditions like the weather. If the weather is not conducive, it interferes and makes it difficult for the dogs.”

Goodlein recalled a case solved last year that he attributed to the K-9 unit.

“We were searching an auto on the road and believed there were controlled substances in the vehicle,” he explained. “Thanks to the K-9 officer, we found a number (of controlled substances) buried in the rear seat.”

WEST BLOOMFIELD

When contacted by the Spinal Column Newsweekly requesting information about the West Bloomfield Police Department’s K-9 program, Lieutenant Timothy Diamond forwarded this statement:

“We are in the midst of a transition period with our K-9 unit. Therefore, we will not be able to help you out with your story at this time.”

Diamond said one of the department’s K-9 handlers recently had to take a dog out of service because of the dog’s age, but the department will still have a K-9 unit.

That particular dog will soon be given a tribute.

On Jan. 9, the West Bloomfield Township board unanimously approved a memorial proposed by a local Boy Scout to honor the township police department’s K-9 unit.

Joshua Geary of Boy Scout Troop 185, based in Waterford, said the memorial would consist of a cement walkway that would extend from the walkway in front of the township police station and lead to a statue of a German shepherd that would have a police badge around its neck.

The pedestal would also include a poem called “A Working Dog’s Oath” and would be illuminated by a light that would be installed.

MILFORD

A representative for the Milford Police Department said the department has discontinued its K-9 unit.