The Laurel Police Department visited campus to give a K-9 demonstration for Jones criminal justice students. Three officers presented training devices and debunked myths surrounding K-9 units.
Officer James Parish and his dog, Rasov, and Officer Dalton Geiger and his dog, Phoenix, showcased two of their major functions in the K-9 unit: detecting trace scents in varied environments and schutzhund training, a command to seize suspects.
Prior to learning high intensity commands, canines are brought into training almost as soon as their eyes open. Conditioning as a puppy determines whether they will have a future in the force or be adopted by a civilian family.
In previous years, dogs started at two or three years old. For Officers Geiger and Parish, their dogs had been partnered with them as early as 14 months. Given the 25% graduation rate, there has been an increased demand to get dogs in training as early as possible.
One K-9’s training academy course costs roughly around $20,000 from basic training to graduation. The LPD pays this, in addition to funding veterinary needs and diet.
The investment of time and money in these dogs is apparent in their livelihood. K-9s have their own medical emergency bags in every K-9 unit vehicle, which include four cans of NARCAN, a medicine that reverses overdoses, that is shared with the officer.
Parish said that training is not teaching them to be senselessly cruel, rather that the dogs believe they are learning rules to win a game. The K-9s associate obedience training and task efficiency with more treats and praise.
The chemistry between the dog and the officer was obvious to onlooking students. During the demonstrations, the canine and officer mutually understood unspoken cues across the species boundary.
A common breed in the force is the Belgian malinois or German shepherd. While these dogs have impressive agility and biteforce pressure, they have preferential loyalty to their chosen person, making them competent partners.
Such is the case for Rosov and Parish as this pair spends all of work and domestic life around the other. Students asked if the dogs help the officers in a therapeutic way like civilian dogs do their owners, and Officer Parish joked, “Rosov is a good listener, but doesn’t say much.”
K-9 command methodology advances alongside the understanding of animal behavior. While the dogs used to be aggressive on instinct, they now respond to the word and behavior of their officer partners.
Retired Colonel and Jones criminal justice instructor Robert R. Bartran ended the demonstration by hiding a backpack from a young in-training labrador. To the students’ surprise, the lab successfully detected and pointed at the bag for its suspicious scent.
Col. Bartran exposed the bag’s contents, which was filled with 20-year-old drug inhalation devices. After years of collecting dust, an untrained dog still traced the scent.
The demonstration offered insight to the powerful assets that these dogs are, as well as a sobering reminder to the students. Col. Bartran reminded his Counterdrug Operational Resource Program students, “This is non-porous glass. Imagine what stays in your body 20 years after one mistake.”
by Aubrey “Katie” Patterson
