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Cloverdale Police Department welcomes new K-9 named Chewy
CLOVERDALE -- The Cloverdale Police Department recently welcomed a new member to its police force, a one-year-old German Shepherd named Chewbacca or Chewy for short.
Sgt. Charlie Hallam, who will be paired with the dog, previously worked with Cloverdale Police Department's former K-9 unit, Alec, from 1999 to 2007.
"Around the first of the year, (Cloverdale Town Marshal Mike Clark) set some department goals and one of the goals was to have a K-9 unit by the end of the year," Hallam said.
"In 2007, the town basically disbanded the K-9 program. However, the chief has the right to acquire a program like this if it's all donations. It's definitely a program that's well received and that we've had experience in before."
Chewy originally came from Rhode Island before landing at the Vonbernd Canine Training Center run by John Holcomb of the Parke County Sheriff's Department. He was purchased through a working invoice with the training center, which will be paid back as donations are acquired.
"Ninety-nine percent of all your K-9 programs are donation-funded programs," Hallam said. "Most of your local government programs are solely supported and funded through donations. As the word is getting out we're anticipating that the funds will be there."
Although the dog had little training before meeting both Clark and Hallam during an on-site visit, the two determined that Chewy was the best fit for the department's long-term goals.
"We were basically looking at them seeing what would best fit our mindset and goal. He's going to be a dual-propose dog used for narcotics, odor recognition, tracking, criminal app-rehension and patrol and obviously obedience," Hallam explained. "Chewy ended up being the bigger find and hunt that we liked that agreed with what we wanted. Working with him a little bit just that day we could tell it was going to be easy to bond with him and get going."
After deciding on Chewy, the pair had also debated changing the name of the dog. However, following the short training session, it was determined that the name actually suited him well.
"After we worked with him for two hours during training we realized we wanted to keep it," Hallam said, smiling at his new patrol officer. "Chewy is definitely his name. Obviously someone was a 'Star Wars' fan. I mean, I don't think he looks like Chewbacca, but it's kind of a neat, unique name as well when it comes to K-9s and I'm sure it will be a name that kids are receptive to."
As of now, Chewy has had a brief introduction to narcotics and odor recognition, mainly with marijuana, but will undergo extensive training with Hallam in the coming weeks.
"I've already had a little bit of a taste of what we're going to do throughout training," Hallam explained. "The trainer, basically showed me what's going to be expected toward the end, how we're going to be as a team and I like what it is. We're going to try and model it off the program I did with Alec."
Hallam also noted that Chewy would also be able to interact with children without an issue. However, he is a working dog and will be able to shift into work mode with just a simple command.
"He's not a pet, he's a working police dog. However, it's a light switch," Hallam said. "When it's time to work and be aggressive he'll be able to do so on command."
Currently, Hallam is taking the time to get Chewy acquainted to not only himself, but his work schedule, the vehicle and types of calls. He is also monitoring what Chewy is doing properly and what types of things that are setting him off that need to be addressed during formal training.
"The best benefit (of having a K-9 unit) is you get an extra officer," Hallam explained. "After you've done your training and do research throughout the year, it is an easy turnaround. Basically, he's not a free officer, but he is a police officer. It gives us an extra person in the streets with us and just the recognition of having a K-9 in a small area."
Along with being a patrol dog with Hallam, Chewy will also be used for school programs and searches if need be.
"We're going to be very focused on the schools," Hallam said. "We're going to be doing not only education, but work as far as narcotics intervention. Whenever they need us we're going to be there."
The primary focus with the new officer will be on the Cloverdale community, schools and businesses. However, Hallam and Chewy will also be able to assist other agencies if needed.
"Part of the training that we're going to go through, the networking that we're going to have with other agencies, we're going to have a team network effect," Hallam stated. "If we need schools searched, instead of just one team, we'll be able to reach out and have multiple teams do it versus one. That way we can get it done quicker and proficiently that way it doesn't wear out the dog."
In order to keep the program going, the Cloverdale Police Department will be soliciting donations from the community as well as surrounding areas.
"Our biggest thing that we have coming up is our birthday celebration (on June 14)," Hallam explained. "The actual trainer (Holcomb) is going to help solicit for donations as well. He's got a lot of program ideas in mind including some that we have used in the past."
To donate to the program persons may call Clark or Hallam at 795-6800 or drop off donations at the Town Hall, located at 154 S. Main St. in Cloverdale.
"I'm glad that we got the opportunity to restart the program," Hallam said. "I hope it's just as big of a success as it was with Alec. I'm really just privileged to be able to do it again."