On The Hunt For A New K-9 Unit

By Tyler Pistor

Miami University journalism student

In November of 2016, Oxford Police Department’s patrol and narcotics K-9, a German Shepherd named Cole, was forced to retire early.

“We usually hope to get about eight years out of them, my last dog only lasted six and a half, he just had some leg issues,” says Cole’s handler, Sergeant Ryan Sikora.

Sikora says getting a new K-9 is a long, arduous process.

"I did my training with a trainer in Middletown, it was 12 weeks long. However, our new dog that we’re getting, we’re getting from a place called Shallow Creek Kennels," Sikora says. "These dogs come pre-trained, they have some training for six weeks and then they get with the handler and then the kennel that has the dog trains the handler and the dog for another six weeks, and then they’re certified and released."

Sikora says both the old kennel the department bought from and the new one import dogs from Europe for the police to purchase. The price for everything - dog, training, and equipment - is 14 thousand dollars.

“We’ll go and pick the dog out some time in May before they start pre-training, then they’ll pre-train for about six weeks and then we’ll get the handler to the class and he’ll stay there for six weeks,” Sikora says.

The training should begin in early summer.

"We haven't announced to our department who was recommended, so we'll be doing that soon. In the summertime it looks to be when we're targeting for training," says Oxford Police Chief John Jones.

The Nose Knows

"I’ve used him for numerous drug searches, tracks, stuff like that. We do a lot of drug searches for the schools," says Sikora, talking about his service with Cole.

Officer Keith Hibbard, working with the Miami University Police Department, believes that having a K-9 unit at the police station provides many benefits to the community as well as the police.

Hibbard is the handler for MUPD’s K-9 unit, being the partner and caretaker of a Belgian Malinois named Figo.

"Having a resource like a K-9 unit, a dog’s nose is 400 times stronger than a human’s nose. So, when it comes to drug eradication or detecting explosives, a dog can do the job so much better than a human can," says Hibbard.

Chief Jones says K-9 units provide officers with invaluable information during a stop or investigation.

"A K-9 gives us that probable cause to search the car, whereas we may not have that without the K-9," says Jones.

And, he adds, a police dog's utility extends beyond criminal investigations.

"I think that one of the most important things that a K-9 can do that a lot of people forget about, is tracking people, so tracking missing persons," Jones says.

Jones says that one of the K-9 units found an elderly man who had gone missing, something that may have been more difficult without a police dog.

Crime Deterrent; Community Benefit

Hibbard says that simply having K-9 units out in public can help police officers do their jobs.

"I think other agencies who have drug dogs and patrol dogs, actively using their dogs out in the public eye, it’s a high visibility, and I think it’s a great deterrent for crime," Hibbard says.

Although being in the public eye has advantages for deterring crime, Hibbard also says there are other benefits to the community.

"A lot of people may not feel comfortable talking to the police, or develop a relationship with the police, but if folks see a dog in the car, that kind of puts them at ease," Hibbard says.

Hibbard says that having a police dog can help improve community policing.

"I think building those relationships with folks, they understand that the police are here to help them, and now they can put a face with an officer’s name, and if they ever have a situation where they need a police officer, they can say 'I know one personally, I’ve sat and talked to one,'" Hilbbard says. "We’ve broke that barrier down, we’ve talked to this person, so it’s been a huge tool that we use him as an icebreaker for community relations."

Photo: Police Officer Keith Hibbard and Figo pose in front of the K-9 police car, heading out later that day to search Goggin Ice Center for explosives before the Miami Redhawks game against Denver. --Photo by Tyler Pistor