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For police K-9 officers affected by Rocco’s
Law, dogs are a tool, an investment, and
more |
By Doug Hughey |
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Over the past eight years, Findlay Township
K-9 Officer Neil Cridge and his police dog,
Axel, have responded to hundreds of calls,
both in Findlay and the surrounding
townships.
Some have involved tracking down missing
persons, such as a child, or a dementia
patient. For others, Axel has sniffed out
stopped cars that police believed to be
carrying drugs, but lacked a reasonable
cause to search.
A number of times, Cridge and Axel have
taken to foot through wooded areas to track
a fleeing suspect. One time, Axel sniffed
out a suspect so well camouflaged in a pile
of leaves that officers almost stepped on or
walked right past him. Another time, they
caught up with a suspect accused of
attempted homicide who refused to surrender
and confronted Cridge and another officer.
After multiple warnings, Cridge informed the
suspect he was about to release Axel. The
suspect surrendered peacefully, saying he
“wasn’t going to mess with the dog.”
“Most times, the mere presence of the dog
keeps officers from having to go hands-on
with a subject,” says Cridge, “and results
in a safer outcome for all.”
Recently, Cridge and North Fayette’s K-9
officer, Cpl. Todd Heufelder, gave
demonstrations with their police dogs at
Janoski’s Farm City Days July 26. With
Heufelder wearing a thick arm guard, Cridge
sent Axel after Heufelder, but not before
demonstrating the ability to also stop the
dog dead in his tracks.
“We have multiple tools available to us,”
says Cridge, “but once we deploy another
tool we can’t stop it. The dog we can.”
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Both Axel and Heufelder’s dog, Nevo, are
capable of delivering a single bite that can
easily snap an arm or wrist. Though it’s
just one tool in the arsenal, it’s one
that’s helped shaped attitudes about the
dogs.
“There’s this idea out there that they’re
just alligators on the end of a leash,” he
says.
Police canines, however, are also a
deterrent that can bring a potentially
dangerous situation to a close peacefully.
They’re trackers that can follow a scent for
miles and hear a heart beat from 25 feet
away, or sniff out drugs or drug residue
from a distance farther than any human or
machine. They’ll |
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After years of
relying on Cridge and Axel, North Fayette purchased their
first dog using grant money earlier this year. Last year,
Robinson Township also acquired a dog. Between the original
purchase price of the dog, significant upfront training
time, and additional costs to outfit a police vehicle, dogs
can cost a department about $30,000. However, thanks to
fundraisig efforts and grants like the Roethlisberger
Foundation, which helped fund North Fayette’s K-9 unit,
Heufelder says that their dog, Nevo, didn’t cost taxpayers a
dime. The same goes for Robinson Township.
Yet despite
an uptick in the use of police dogs among departments,
Pennsylvania’s laws protecting police animals have lagged
behind those of other states, and even those protecting
federal agencies. In the eyes of Pennsylvania law currently,
taunting a police dog - such as by hammering on the window
of a police car - is no different than killing one. Both are
punishable by a third-degree felony.
Following
the stabbing death of a Pittsburgh Police canine named Rocco
earlier this year, however, state Sen. Matt Smith and state
Rep. John Maher both introduced pieces of legislation to
stiffen penalties against anyone who injures or kills a
police animal. The legislation, dubbed Rocco’s Law, passed
through the Pennsylvania House and Senate in just a matter
of five months, and the bill was signed into law by Gov. Tom
Corbett in July.
Once the new
law takes effect in September, the penalty for killing a
police animal will increase from a third-degree to a
second-degree felony. It will also carry with it a penalty
of 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
“This was
really something that the whole community was a part of,”
says Smith, “from the grieving to making sure that something
like this doesn’t happen again.”
Not only
does the new law protect a financial investment, but also a
time investment and personal bond between officers and the
community. Just to train an officer to work with a dog
requires almost two months of full time work. That’s on top
of the 16 hours of required monthly training officers are
required to perform in order to maintain their certification
through the North American Work Dog Association. During that
time, officers continue to test their animals as each learns
the other’s ticks, queues and limitations. Heufelder and
Cridge say both of their dogs also live with them, and when
the dogs are ready to retire, they’ll buy them back from the
department for $1.
“We’re with
them more than we are our families,” says Heufelder.
The
community, too, embraces the dogs. Axel is a regular visitor
to schools, so much that, Cridge jokes, more people seem to
know Axel’s name better than Cridge’s. Thanks to Eukanuba,
all of Axel’s food is donated, and veterinarian Anne Bolind
of Imperial Animal Hospital in Imperial donates her time and
expertise, both to Findlay and North Fayette’s units. The
171st Air Refueling Wing has also opened their
doors to training groups.
Recently,
McKee Elementary students donated $1,400 to North Fayette’s
K-9 fund, and got to meet Nevo for the first time.
Cridge says
that, at times, Axel has helped form a bridge between police
and people in the community.
“Not
everyone may like the police, but most people like dogs,” he
says.
Much of that
has to do with their playful demeanor, which the officers
demonstrated can be switched on or off like a light switch
at Janoski’s Farm City Days. When not working, they’re
loving animals that soak up attention with tail wagging
satisfaction. Prior to latching onto Heufelder’s arm, Axel
reveled in the attention from a crowd as children wearing
face paint ran their fingers through his coat.
During the
demonstration, Heufelder and Cridge also had Nevo search a
car for drugs. Upon finding the drugs, sealed in a plastic
bag inside a metal container, Cridge tossed a piece of PVC
pipe in front of the dog. That signaled work time was over,
and led to a playful game of tug of war. Play, they
explained, is the dog’s payday, and overriding motivation
when working.
“Even when
they’re working, everything we do is still a game,” says
Cridge. “Just like you or I want our pay day when we’re done
working, they don’t give up until they get their pay day,
and that’s to play.” |
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