City's first K-9 officer paired with Officer Reed

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

SHOREVIEW -- The latest addition to the New Ulm Police Department graduated from basic training Thursday afternoon.

This particular addition has four legs, paws, fur and wears a collar. He's about one and half years old. His favorite snack is rumored to be cheese. He responds to the name Thunder.

Thunder and his handler, NUPD Officer Jeremy Reed, were part of the graduating class from the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department's regional canine training center in Shoreview, a suburb of St. Paul.

Reed began his 12 weeks of training in March. The training started with basic dog obedience commands and ended with lessons in how to apprehend a suspect, how to perform a search, crowd control and search-and-rescue functions.

The graduation ends the New Ulm Police Department's quest for a K-9 unit, which former NUPD Chief Howard Zins began years ago. The department has gathered nearly $3,000 in donations from local civic groups and set aside $5,000 out of its own budget for the K-9 fund.

Thursday's graduation saw deputy sheriffs from Douglas, Carver and Isanti counties graduate with Reed and an officer from the Roseville Police Department.

Friends, family members and colleagues who attended the graduation exercises saw demonstrations based on the officers' training. The dogs climbed ladders, crawled through pipes, found a wallet in tall grass and dove through an open squad car window to help a handler out with a combative suspect.

According to Deputy Bruce Jerome, head trainer at the Ramsey County canine facility, the training unit went through 70 different dogs before it found the five that graduated Thursday.

Jerome said the team looks for dogs that have good attitudes towards people, good health, courage, and what he called play drive, or the tendency to want to play fetch, when selecting candidates for training. Any dog that doesn't meet those standards is dismissed and adopted out through breeders and humane societies.

The New Ulm Police Department is now the only Brown County law enforcement agency with a K-9 unit. Others are located nearby in Lake Crystal, St. Peter, Mankato, Marshall, Watonwan and Sibley counties.

Thunder's main job with NUPD is patrol duty with Reed as well as search and rescue. Reed and Thunder are supposed to have advanced training in narcotics detection later this year.

There are about 400 K-9 units in Minnesota; about 60 of those dogs are located in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. The Ramsey County Sheriff's Department operates one of two training facilities that are open to outstate departments.

Police Chief Erv Weinkauf said Thunder and Reed start patrol in one week.

"I'm happy to see it's been a success, and we're looking forward to Jeremy working when he returns," Weinkauf said. "He deserves credit for working hard away from his family."

Weinkauf said NUPD officers are supposed to have a training session on K-9 do's and don't's soon

Thunder's arrival will mean NUPD will have to follow state guidelines for using K-9 units. For example, police are supposed to let people know before turning the dog loose. Unless the officer is in a search-and-rescue situation, the dog can't be used unless there is a felony offense involved.

Zodi, Thunder's predecessor, was dismissed in the sixth week of training because Zodi didn't have enough of what he called "defensive drive" for the job, Jerome said. Trainers say they generally prefer German shepherds, Belgian malinois and Dutch shepherds for general police work. Other breeds like bloodhounds and retrievers are used almost exclusively for bomb or narcotics detection.

Rita Knudson, a German shepherd breeder and rescuer from Brooklyn Park, regularly donates dogs to Ramsey County for its training programs. She said German shepherds dominate police K-9 units because of their high intelligence, strength and desire to keep busy. Generally, dogs must be in good health, confident, male and in between 1-3 years old for consideration as a K-9 officer.

"He's real ambitious. He wants to be kept busy," said Knudson of Thunder.

For Reed, the most frustrating part about K-9 training was being a part of a whole new learning game.

"It's like having a four-year old," said Reed of his new partner.

Like most K-9 officers, Thunder will live with Reed and his family and will work the same shifts Reed does. He said Thunder gets along with his younger child and the family cocker spaniel just fine.