Featured K-9 Unit: Wyoming (MI) Department of Public Safety

September/October 2020 - ISSUE 81

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Featured K-9 Unit Wyoming (MI) Department of Public Safety

Advice & Opinion Buy American: Changing the Course of Procuring Working Dogs

Scent Detection The Benefits of Double-Blind Training and Testing

F E AT U R E D K- 9 U N I T : W Y O M I N G ( M I ) D E P A R T M E N T O F P U B L I C S A F E T Y

WYOMING (MI)

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY K-9 UNIT

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MISSION STATEMENT – Our DUTY is to serve the people of our community with dignity, respect, fairness and compassion. We serve with COURAGE to protect life and property and maintain law and order. We will uphold the TRUST placed in us to safeguard constitutional guarantees and will do so with HONOR worthy of those who have served before us.

1948 year established 84 full-time officers 14 civilian staff personnel

CALEA® Accredited

75,000+ residents 25 mi2 area covered

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WYOMING (MI) DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY K-9 UNIT HISTORY

F E AT U R E D K- 9 U N I T : W Y O M I N G ( M I ) D E P A R T M E N T O F P U B L I C S A F E T Y

1988 year established The Wyoming Department of Public Safety K-9 Unit was established in 1988 and consisted of two German Shepherds worked by Sergeant Art Birdsley and Officer Rhondo.

Both K-9s were patrol certified through the United States Police Canine Association and were trained in drug recognition, tracking, suspect search and evidence searches.

The Wyoming Department of Public Safety currently deploys four K-9 Teams covering both afternoon and night shift patrol schedules, seven days a week.

PICTURED TOP: SGT. ART BIRDSLEY/K-9 YALK AND OFC. RANDY ADAMS/K-9 QUINCE PICTURED BOTTOM LEFT: OFC. KIP SNYDER/K-9 CHICO PICTURED BOTTOM RIGHT: OFC. JEFF MALZAHN/K-9 JAKE THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF PAST K-9 HANDLERS AND THEIR DECEASED K-9 PARTNERS.

K-9 BLACK

OFC RHONDO

K-9 YALK

SGT BIRDSLEY

K-9 QUINCE

OFC RANDY ADAMS

K-9 FESCI

OFC KIP SNYDER (CURRENTLY CAPTAIN SNYDER)

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K-9 CHICA

OFC RANDY ADAMS

K-9 BARON

OFC RANDY ADAMS

K-9 MOJY

OFC RANDY ADAMS

K-9 CHICO

OFC KIP SNYDER (CURRENTLY CAPTAIN SNYDER)

K-9 BAK

OFC JEFF BYLSMA

K-9 MAX

OFC JEFF BYLSMA

K-9 JAKE

OFC JEFF MALZAHN

K-9 BENTO

OFC DAN MAHONEY

K-9 CHICO

OFC DAN MAHONEY

K-9 ZEKE

OFC ROBERT AUNGST

K-9 ARRAS

OFC ROBERT ROBINSON

PICTURED LEFT: OFC. ROBERT AUNGST/K-9 ZEKE PICTURED RIGHT: OFC. JEFF BYLSMA/K-9 MAX

THE WYOMING DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY CURRENT K-9 UNIT:

LEAD TRAINER SGT ROBERT AUNGST

K-9 CHASE

K-9 JETT

OFC RYAN PATTERSON

OFC CHAD WELLS

K-9 AZAR

K-9 KOVU

OFC DAN SANDERSON

OFC KELSEY EISEN

K-9 DUTCH

(STILL LIVING BUT RETIRED) OFC KELSEY EISEN

The K-9 teams are certified annually through two national K-9 organizations: the National Association of Professional Canine Handlers and the United States Police Canine Association. The four teams are trained by Sergeant Robert Aungst during a six- to eight-week in-house program.

The Wyoming Department of Public Safety utilizes the K-9 Unit during approximately 300 incidents annually, with the majority of incidents involving tracking suspects and narcotic searches.

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F E AT U R E D K- 9 U N I T : W Y O M I N G ( M I ) D E P A R T M E N T O F P U B L I C S A F E T Y

Officer Ryan Patterson & K-9 Chase • FUN FACT: Chase has his K-9 teeth capped with titanium to protect them from wear.

• TRACKING

• NARCOTIC SEARCH • EVIDENCE SEARCH • BUILDING SEARCH • OBEDIENCE

• SUSPECT APPREHENSION • AREA SEARCH AGE:

7 YEARS OLD BREED:

GERMAN SHEPHERD COUNTRY ORIGIN:

NETHERLANDS CERTIFICATIONS: • NAPCH • USPCA

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I am Officer Ryan Patterson and have been a police officer for 13 years, nine of which have been with the Wyoming Department of Public Safety. I became a K-9 handler in 2014 with my partner, Chase. Chase is a German Shepherd from the Netherlands and is now seven years old. As a young man, I trained dogs for bird hunting. I have always been amazed at what you can teach them; persistence and hard work can be very rewarding. I carried that love for training dogs over to my career.

Chase is a dual-purpose K-9 and is certified in narcotic searches, building searches, area searches, article searches, apprehension, handler protection and tracking. He likes to play fetch with his Kong on his off time. Fun fact about Chase: he has his canine teeth capped with titanium to protect them from wear.

Officer Daniel Sanderson & K-9 Azar • FUN FACT: In Azar’s off time, he loves to play with his ball, bark at the neighbor dogs, go camping, and get love from his favorite child, and sister Elloise.

• TRACKING

• NARCOTIC SEARCH • EVIDENCE SEARCH • BUILDING SEARCH • OBEDIENCE

• SUSPECT APPREHENSION • AREA SEARCH AGE:

8 YEARS OLD My name is Daniel Sanderson and I have been a police officer for 12 years; 5 of those have been with the Wyoming Department of Public Safety. In 2017, I was paired with K-9 Azar, who is an 8-year-old German Shepherd from Slovakia.

Since I began police work, one of my biggest dreams was to be a K-9 handler and it has been a very hard, but rewarding, experience. Azar is patrol certified in tracking, building and vehicle narcotics, article searches, area searches, building searches and aggression. His favorite task is tracking and he has caught many suspects and located numerous missing people in his career.

BREED:

GERMAN SHEPHERD COUNTRY ORIGIN:

SLOVAKIA

CERTIFICATIONS: • NAPCH • USPCA

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F E AT U R E D K- 9 U N I T : W Y O M I N G ( M I ) D E P A R T M E N T O F P U B L I C S A F E T Y

Officer Chad Wells & K-9 Jett • Currently Officer Wells & Jett are assigned to night shift patrol.

• TRACKING

• NARCOTIC SEARCH • EVIDENCE SEARCH • BUILDING SEARCH • OBEDIENCE

• SUSPECT APPREHENSION • AREA SEARCH AGE:

6 YEARS OLD BREED:

GERMAN SHEPHERD COUNTRY ORIGIN:

SLOVAKIA

CERTIFICATIONS: • NAPCH • USPCA

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My name is Chad Wells and I am partnered with K-9 Jett, who is a dual-purpose narcotics detection K-9. I have been a police officer for a little over 10 years. I started my career with the Santa Clara County Sheriff ’s Office in San Jose, CA. I then moved to Virginia where I worked for the Virginia Tech PD and Blacksburg PD. In 2015, I moved back to my home state of Michigan and began working for the Wyoming Department of Public Safety.

I have been with WYDPS for almost five years and have been partnered with Jett for over three of those years. Jett is a 6-yearold German Shepherd from Slovakia. Currently, Jett and I are assigned to night shift patrol. Jett excels in tracking and has caught numerous suspects on tracks for several different agencies. Most notably, Jett and I assisted in catching a homicide suspect who was apprehended by a perimeter officer while we were tracking behind the suspect. On our off time, Jett enjoys relaxing with our family, playing fetch and chewing on his ball in the back yard.

My name is Kelsey Eisen and I have been a police officer for nine years; three of those years have been in the K-9 Unit.

Ever since I was a child, I wanted to be a police officer, but not just any police officer – a K-9 officer. I set my goals high and worked hard to achieve them.

While attending the Grand Rapids Community College Police Academy, I was introduced to Ofc. Adams and Aungst through a K-9 Demo. After graduating, I continuously did ride-alongs with them and picked their brains on everything police and K-9 related. I soaked it all in and knew that I wanted to one day work for and be a K-9 handler for WYDPS. After graduating, I worked for the Oscoda Twp. PD for 2 years before taking a position with the MI State University PD to be closer to home. I worked there for three years and love it. I had a great time learning from my amazing coworkers, especially the K-9 team. They allowed me to come and train with them and learn as much as I could. After having my first child, I decided to move back home to Grand Rapids where I was born and raised.

While looking for a new job closer to home, I heard that my dream department, WYDPS, was hiring. I put in for the positions and was hired. Since then, I have been with the department four years, with three of them in the K-9 unit.

I am the first female handler with the department and was fortunate enough to be paired with K-9 Dutch for my first police dog. K-9 Dutch is a Dutch Shepherd and was a seven years old when we were paired as a team. We affectionately called him the old man of the group, even though he had more energy than most of our other patrol dogs. K-9 Dutch was a master at agility, obedience and aggression control and always made me look good. He loved narcotics and it was always fun to watch him work a scent cone to the odor and give his final alert. Tracking was his least favorite and he seemed to struggle at it compared to everything else he did. After a lot of hard work, practice and training, we made it fun and I think he thoroughly enjoyed it. He became ten times better and we excelled as a team. After being partnered with Dutch for 3 years, he reached the age of 10 and finally starting to show his age; we decided it was time to retire him. I was fortunate enough to be able to keep Dutch with me after his retirement. He is my best friend and now lives inside my house with my family. Instead of chasing bad guys, he is having fun chasing his ball, playing with his fur brothers and being spoiled by my kids.

After retiring K-9 Dutch I set out with my K-9 team to pick out my new partner. We knew what we wanted and I knew he had to be great, because he had big paws to fill. The first time I saw K-9 Kovu, I was immediately drawn to him. His energy was on par with mine and his drive was insane. After running him through a multitude of tests along with a handful of other dogs, we knew he was the one for me. He is a 2-year-old Belgian Malinois from the Czech Republic. He is currently in training to be our next dual-purpose patrol dog. He is extremely smart with high drive. His hunt drive is amazing and I can’t wait to get him on the street. I hope that everything Dutch taught me will help me train K-9 Kovu into becoming an amazing police dog. So far, he is doing great and I think he will be an exceptional police dog.

Officer Kelsey Eisen & K-9 Kovu (in training)

• Officer Eisen was immediately drawn to K-9 Kovu. His energy was on par with her and his drive was insane.

• TRACKING • NARCOTIC SEARCH • EVIDENCE SEARCH • BUILDING SEARCH • OBEDIENCE • SUSPECT APPREHENSION • AREA SEARCH AGE:

2 YEARS OLD BREED:

BELGIAN MALINOIS COUNTRY ORIGIN:

CZECH REPUBLIC

K-9 Dutch (ret.)

• K-9 Dutch was Officer Eisen’s partner for 3 years.

• TRACKING • NARCOTIC SEARCH • EVIDENCE SEARCH • BUILDING SEARCH • OBEDIENCE • SUSPECT APPREHENSION • AREA SEARCH AGE:

10 YEARS OLD BREED:

DUTCH SHEPHERD COUNTRY ORIGIN:

LANSING, MI - USA CERTIFICATIONS: • NAPCH, USPCA

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