Butler police get 2 new canines Officers, partners in service after training at K-9 academy
“They're quite incredible.”
That's how Butler police officer Andrew Niederlander described the two newest members of the police department.
One of them is Niederlander's K-9 partner, Rico, and the other is Lt. Brian Grooms' new K-9 named Chooch.
Fresh out of three months of training, Grooms and Chooch, and Niederlander and Rico revived the department's K-9 program and began working last week.
Both dogs are German shepherd-Belgian Malinois mixes that the officers recently completed training with at the City of Pittsburgh's police K-9 academy.
Grooms served as the city's last K-9 officer until about a year ago when his former dog, Gunner, died. The city's other police dog was retired from service around the same time.
Police Chief Bob O'Neill said the process of ordering and receiving the dogs, selecting the officers, waiting for Pittsburgh police to schedule a K-9 training academy, and training the officers and dogs began shortly after Gunner died.
“We started just after Gunner's passing, so it's been about a year to get the dogs in service,” O'Neill said.
Grooms and Niederlander were selected based on their service records and recommendations from trainers, who evaluated the officers at the K-9 academy, he said.
The three months of training involving the dogs and the officers was completed Jan. 24.
“They're both ready to go. They're fully certified. The officers were with them the whole time,” O'Neill said. “The dogs are trained in narcotic detection and patrol activities. People should start seeing them out there.”
The dogs have been trained to detect small amounts of narcotics, apprehend suspects and back up officers in a variety of circumstances, Niederlander said.
“He can detect narcotics,” Niederlander said about his 1½-year-old partner. “Each narcotic has a unique smell to it. You notice a change in their behavior when they smell that substance. Once they smell that substance, they know it's something they can be rewarded for.”
Methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin are the primary drugs the dogs were taught to detect and alert the officers about.
“Their second purpose is patrol work — apprehension, tracking, searching for items dropped in a field,” he said.
Apprehension is a euphemism for biting.
“We kind of have to get the dog to bite someone; it's not that natural for a dog to bite a human,” Niederlander said. “If he bites, you have to be able to control him. You must be able to get him to let go of the person.”
The dogs can detect the odor of a person on the other side of a closed door, he said.Training for the dogs began before the officers started training with them.Academy trainers worked with the dogs to “imprint” the odor of narcotics in their memories, he said.Rico was a little more than a year old when Niederlander began working with him.Bonding was one of the first things they worked on. Walking the dogs was the first thing officers did when they arrived at the academy every morning. Brushing the dogs and spending time together strengthened the bonds.The officers began taking their dogs home with them after about a month of training. Then, they drove to the academy with their dogs.“That bond between the dog and the handler is one of the most important things. It doesn't come naturally. The dog has to able to trust us,” he said.Residents are eager to see and learn about the dogs.“People are always curious about how the dogs work. It definitely helps with public relations. It's good to educate people about these dogs and their capabilities. They're quite incredible,” Niederlander said.The K-9 officers usually won't work the same shifts.“They'll be working different shifts to maximize the time they can be on the road — rarely at the same time, unless there is a special event,” O'Neill said.The dogs, training and K-9 vehicles were funded by grants and donations that ranged from $5 to $15,000. The K-9 program is funded solely through contributions from the community and any grants the department can obtain.People who want to donate to the K-9 fund can send donations to: Butler Canine Fund, in care of Butler City Police, 200 W. New Castle St., Butler, PA 16001.
