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Thursday, 27 March 2008 |
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Staff photo/B.J. Bethel
Auglaize County Sheriff Al Solomon uses a bite sleeve to demonstrate how Bandit takes down a suspect Wednesday at the St. Marys Rotary Club’s weekly meeting held at the Eagles.
By B.J. BETHEL
Assistant Managing Editor
ST. MARYS — Auglaize County Sheriff Al Solomon and Deputy Mike Peterson were guests at St. Marys Rotary Wednesday and they brought a furry guest of their own along for the event.
Bandit, a 5-year-old black shepherd police dog, was the featured attraction. The sizable canine greeted Rotarians and provided a K-9 demonstration.
Solomon told Rotarians Bandit performed 11 trackings last year and 29 narcotic finds. He was in one parade and he’s often used as an ambassador for the sheriff’s office and travels to local schools in that role.
“He’s a big teddy bear,” Solomon said.
Bandit lives with Peterson, whose family treats him as a normal pet. He goes to work and has free range at the sheriff’s office, where the dispatchers like to feed him treats.
Bandit is from the Czech Republic and was brought to the United States, where the sheriff’s department purchased him. Solomon estimated total costs for the dog to be near $6,500.
The money to purchase Bandit came from donations and from a seizure in a drug bust several years ago. The department also purchased a Ford Explorer for him to ride in.
“The costs for him were minimal,” Solomon said.
The dog has been with the department two and a half years. Peterson, who has been a deputy for 12 years, attended K-9 school with the dog, which took six to seven weeks and was 10 to 12 hours a day of work. He eventually became a state-certified narcotic dog.
Bandit alerts officers to the presence of narcotics passively.
“There are two types,” Peterson said. “Aggressive means the dog is alert and will scratch and scratch. In a passive alert, like Bandit, they will sit and stare and may start to drool after a while.”
Peterson said he had to be alert himself being with a passive dog.
If the dog is in a car searching, it may be easy to miss the signal that something is present.
“One reason we got a passive dog is because of civil issues,” Solomon said. “Aggressive dogs can scratch up a car when alerted.”
Bandit also is used to conduct searches for people. He does this by tracking the most recent scent in the area.
The dog is also trained to bite, as Solomon demonstrated with a protective sleeve. Peterson performed a mock-arrest on Solomon, who then shoved his deputy away and began yelling at the dog. Bandit, who had a slow start due to the slippery floor, managed to get going and grab Solomon by the sleeve.
The dog, which was excited to get to perform, took the sleeve back onto the Rotary podium before working his way back onto the floor.
Solomon said he found out one time how strong the dog was when he refused to let go of the sleeve. The dog dragged him several feet across a football field.
“I get nervous when he’s bearing down on me,” Solomon said.
Peterson said he has the option of buying Bandit from the department for $1 when the dog retires.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 April 2008 )
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