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Putnam officers K9 certified
CRAWFORDSVILLE -- Unfortunately, there is only so much a conventional officer can do when it comes to using the body’s five senses while on the job.
Indeed, any officer who attempts to sniff out drugs, explosives or other illegal materials may come away wishing he hadn’t tried.
That’s where K9 officers come in, not only saving the day by busting a suspect in ways a human officer could not, but also by providing companionship and ever-ready backup to officers who sometimes have to act alone in the field.
Such is the case for two Putnam County officers and their K9 partners -- Cloverdale Police Sgt. Charlie Hallam and Roachdale Town Marshal Mike Mahoy, each of whom received their annual K9 certifications Friday at the Hampton Inn & Suites hotel in Crawfordsville from the town’s mayor, Todd Barton.
K9 officer Chewy, who has become as much of a fan favorite in Cloverdale as on the silver screen, provides the necessary skills, companionship and backup to Hallam while on the job.
“My first K9 was 1999-2007 with Cloverdale, and (Chewy) is our second one through the department,” Hallam said. “He’s been in service since 2014.
“We started with (Chewy) soon after (Mahoy) got Toby and we were already acclimated with Holcomb at the training center,” he added. “We do many training exercises and demos and we’re active in the whole county -- schools, community events, the fair -- we try to put the word out that this is what Putnam County police canines do. All of them are donations so we try to tell the public ‘this is what your donation money goes to.’ Most canine programs are 100 percent donation based.”
Hallam went on to say that through canine training and the presence of canine officers around the area, an invaluable network has been formed between agencies.
“We all try to get together and do what we can where we need it,” Hallam said. “If (Mahoy) has a problem in Roachdale and needs a canine presence, we all come together. We’ve searched North Putnam schools, Attica schools, Cloverdale ... we're a group where, if one of us calls and needs some help, we all try to make ourselves available. With the blessings of our chain of command and our towns, our program is able to do that.”
And the same can be said for Mahoy’s K9 officer Toby who, despite his reputation, is a loving and ever-vigilant canine, already providing Mahoy with a friend, coworker and the tactical advantage needed in Putnam County.
“We all try to get together and work but there are other times when I do things on my own with Toby in Roachdale,” Mahoy said. “He’s a working dog who loves to work. I tell everyone I’m on call all the time so at 2 a.m. when dispatch calls, Toby knows who it is and he’s right there by the door ready to go. Even if it’s a call where we don’t need him, he still wants to go.
“This week we got some defensive tactics in with our own units,” Mahoy continued. “We’ve been using the old TDS (Telecom) in Roachdale that was donated to us to train dogs and it works out good for us. None of these are bomb-searching dogs, they’re all narcotics dogs ... sometimes we get DEA drugs sent to them and we’ll use those for room-hides and things like that. Being a canine handler has a lot of work involved. It takes a lot of time and family time but it’s all worth it in the end. You bond with these dogs, they become part of you. One day they’re going to retire and it’s like the end of the world.”
Receiving their respective certifications Friday after an annual five-day seminar, the pair of K9 officers have conducted their training through the VonBernd Training Center on Crawfordsville’s north side for a number of years.
John Holcomb, owner and operator of the VonBernd Training Center, has been conducting obedience training, problem solving, home and personal protection, tracking, search and rescue, narcotics and apprehension services for 42 years and regularly provides K9 officer training to police departments around the country.
“This seminar was training for K9 police officers and is a once-a-year seminar for the dogs,” Holcomb said. “There are guys here today from Attica, Clinton, Vermillion County, Ashley ... and we’ve had them from all over the country.”
Present Friday were several officers from Indiana, Kansas and Texas, each receiving certifications after a five-day seminar at the nearby training center.
One of the officers, Jake Skillett, originally from Kansas, is a Putnam County Jail officer and has been working with VonBernd for some time.
“(Holcomb) and I have been training together for about the last eight years,” Skillett said. “I never would have dreamed dog training would take me where it has. I’ve been to Iraq and all over the place and it’s because I’ve learned from him.
“What a lot of people don’t understand is that it’s not only police dogs you can train,” Skillett continued, “they’re multiple disciplines and, ever since we domesticated the wolf, we’ve used a dog in our lives in some way. It shows that for eons dogs have been an important part of our lives.”
One of the issues concerning K9 officers is an apparent lack of funding within small-town budgets. In fact, donations, are the sole factor in acquiring Chewy and Toby for the Cloverdale and Roachdale police departments, respectively.
Anyone interested in donating funds for canine training, or for those interested in donating dogs themselves to police departments, can contact the local agencies more information.