Cape police's newest canine starts work next week

Cape Girardeau's newest police department hire will patrol the streets in about a week when Reno, a 16-month-old German shepherd, replaces Bolo as the canine partner of officer Roy Rahn.

Bolo finished a seven-year career with the police department in May when, on his final day of service, he assisted in the capture of a man accused of forcible sodomy and second-degree robbery. Since then, Bolo has resided with Rahn and his family, where he will remain, Rahn said.

The Jackson Police Department has been using its new canine, Stryker, a nearly black 2-year-old shepherd, for almost a year, said canine handler and officer Darrell Sievers.

Baron, Sievers' former canine partner, had to be euthanized last month at the age of 10 due to medical problems.

Sievers said the decision to put the dog down was a tough one.

Jackson police officer Darrell Sievers introduces Preston Stroder, 9, of Cape Girardeau to Stryker, Sievers' canine partner. Stryker is a 2-year-old German shepherd imported from the Netherlands for the Jackson Police Department. (BRIDGET DICOSMO)

"I had been holding onto him, and he died in my arms," he said.

Sievers said Missouri Police Canine Association trainer Mike Ervin, who arranged the purchases of Reno and Stryker, selected Stryker with the city of Jackson in mind.

"You can take [Stryker] into a class of kindergarten kids, and they'll pull his ears. He's the best public relations tool we've ever had," Sievers said.

Ervin said when he looks to purchase a dog for an area police department, he talks to the city officials first to find out exactly what their needs are and the type of dog they want: whether they want the animal to be approachable in crowds, skilled in narcotics or used more for criminal apprehension.

Then his job is to choose a dog based on tests to determine the strength of the animal's drives, such as "hunt" or "prey" drives, to find out whether it has the complex mix of instincts required for police work, Ervin said.

"You can't just take any dog and turn it into a police dog," Ervin said.

Ervin said he spends about a day testing a dog before he decides whether he wants to make the purchase.

Stryker and Reno, like most police canines, were bought from brokers in Europe, where German shepherds tend to be less prone to hip ailments and more intensity is bred into the dogs, Sievers said.

Stryker was bred in the Netherlands, Sievers said. Reno's exact origin, though European, is difficult to pinpoint because brokers in Europe collect dogs from various regions, Ervin said.

"When I went to pick these dogs, I had about 50 dogs to pick from," he said.

Reno has completed seven weeks of the required eight at Ervin's training facility in Cape Girardeau County -- eight- to 10-hour days, Monday through Friday. Rahn and Ervin said he's working out well so far.

"He seemed to fit the environment Cape is in right now," Ervin said.

Both Sievers and Rahn said it has been a transition to go from working with a dog they'd had beside them for several years to having a young, inexperienced canine.

"Baron knew all the tricks," Sievers said.

Baron had several handlers before Sievers and was fully trained. Stryker didn't even know his name when Sievers first began working with him, he said.

In the past year, Stryker has developed skills that separate him from his predecessor, including his skill at sniffing out drugs.

Baron was better than Stryker at tracking, he said, able to "track a shadow at midnight."

Rahn said Reno is more laid-back than Bolo and, like Stryker, is a "passive alert dog," meaning he lets his handler know he's located drugs by locking his gaze on the spot and sitting quietly.

Both Baron and Bolo were "aggressive" in their signals, which meant they would scratch and paw at the surface of an object when they smelled drugs inside.

Reno was paid for by donations and participation in the "Pay for the Pups" project. The Cape Girardeau Kiwanis Club donated $12,000 toward the purchase of the two new dogs for the department, which covers the cost of Reno and his training. Area schools helped raise additional funds to help toward the purchase of a dog to replace Toben, the other police canine, who will likely be retired in the fall of 2010.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

388-3635

<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HKNvn9Py0eM&hl=en&fs=1&"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HKNvn9Py0eM&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340">

Pertinent addresses:

Jackson, MO

40 S. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, MO