| The beginning…
Barry County Sheriff’s Department’s K-9 unit was
officially established on April 27th, 2006 with a formal “swearing-in”
ceremony in front of the Sheriff’s Department. Various members of the
community were on hand to witness, for the first time in the Sheriff‘s
Department history, a K-9 take the oath of office.
This important ceremony made it official that, Gina, is to be recognized as
an official member of the Barry County Sheriff’s Department as a police
canine. This distinction enables certain protections and exceptions under
Michigan State Law.
Sheriff Leaf presented Gina with her specially designed badge. After the
Sheriff read the oath to Gina, she barked as if to say “I do”.
(Shown at right / Deputy
Richelle Spencer with Deputy Gina) |
 |
Cost to the taxpayer?
The K-9 unit development was approved by the County Board
of Commissioners. However, may not have been financially possible without
various significant private donations along with remarkable grants from the
Barry Community Foundation, Wal-Mart and Michigan Municipal Risk Management
Authority. Fundraiser events assisted the unit as well.
The funds made it possible to purchase the fully trained canine; training
equipment; specially equipped and dedicated police K-9 vehicle with heat
detection safety and bail-out electronics; bullet resistant vest; uniforms
for the handler; food; grooming; veterinary care; and miscellaneous support
supplies.
Private donations from citizens and business leaders are always appreciated
so that we may continue this valuable program for our community for years to
come. Additional expenses from year to year will come from additional
training gear, replacement of training gear, training programs, vehicle
maintenance, and veterinary care and food.
Where did Gina come from?
After long research on police canines and training kennels in Michigan,
Northern Michigan K-9 (NMK9) was ultimately selected because of their
reputation in the law enforcement canine community and extensive experience.
Brian Gregory, the vice-president, instructor and trainer, has personally
trained over 400 police K-9 teams throughout the United States.
Additionally, the close proximity of their training facility makes for
recurrent certification more efficient and effective for the K-9 team. NMK9
offers recertification to our team at no cost to our agency.
The course NMK9 provides is approved by the Michigan Commission On Law
Enforcement Standards. (MCOLES). NMK9 is dedicated to putting together the
best possible K-9 teams. They took time to get to know the County in which
our team would be working. They also got a feel of the department, where our
extremely important Police Tool would be used. They believe putting the
right dog with the right handler for our community is an art and took pride
by taking the time to do this.
Who is Gina’s Handler?
Deputy Spencer was chosen to be the Sheriff’s Department’s K-9 handler
through an application and interview process by a panel of professional K-9
handlers along with Brian Gregory (NMK9). She started working with canines
in 4-H and has continued to show dogs in local, state and national shows.
The knowledge and experience she brings to the program is a great asset.
Northern Michigan K9 Inc. got to know Deputy Spencer before hand picking
Deputy Gina to be her partner.
Tell me more about Deputy Gina………
Deputy Gina was born in Hungary on May 29, 2004. She was imported by NMK9.
Gina is sable in color. Northern Michigan K-9 Inc. took the time to
completely pre-train Gina. That means before she was placed with her
handler, Gina’s narcotic detection work, tracking, handler protection,
article, area and building search, were already in place.
When did Deputy Spencer and Deputy Gina meet?
In March, Gina was introduced to her new handler Deputy Richelle Spencer of
the Barry County Sheriff’s Department. They trained together at the Northern
Michigan K9 campus throughout March and graduated from that program on March
31. They proved to be a good match as they performed together at the top of
their class.
What type of training does the police canine team
undergo?
The initial Basic Canine Training Course was 4 weeks in length and is an
accredited training program through Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement
Standards (MCOLES).
Training is an on going and never ending process To maintain all of Gina’s
abilities to perform well in the law enforcement environment, training on a
weekly basis is conducted with other K-9 teams. Periodically, they return to
NMK9 for further tutorage.
During weekly training, Deputy Spencer and Deputy Gina continually perform
extensive training exercises on topics such as canine obedience; article
searching; field searching; tracking; and narcotics detection. They also
train extensively in regards to techniques for handler protection, suspect
apprehension, and pursuit.
The K-9 team must certify annually so that they are able to document such
for a court. This is significant and unique because the K-9 team is capable
of developing “probable cause” for purposes of conducting both warrant and
warrant-less searches in certain circumstances. Therefore, the K-9 handler
must be ready to provide specific training documentation to a court of law
in the event an arrest or the development of probable cause is ever
challenged. To aid with this, Deputy Spencer attends legal updates covering
such topics as 4th amendment considerations.
In regards to narcotics detection, Deputy Spencer has attended drug
interdiction classes presented by the Drug Enforcement Association (DEA).
These seminars and classes compliment previous training to assist the K-9
team in locating illegal narcotics.
What can Gina do for law enforcement and the
community?
Gina is considered a dual-purpose narcotic trained police dog. This means
that she has specific training to perform the following functions to assist
in a law enforcement mission:
- Narcotics detection (heroine, cocaine, marijuana, crack, methamphetamine,
and other derivatives [She searches for these illegal substances in: vehicles, private
residences, businesses, packages, and school campus’ upon request by a
school district.]
- Suspect Apprehension
-Area and building searches for a criminal suspect's)
-Clearing vehicles after high risk stops
-Support emergency tactical response teams
- Tracking and searching
-For lost people
-Tracking and apprehension of criminal suspects
-Evidence search and recovery
- Handler Protection
- Tactical obedience
In addition to the aforementioned specific law enforcement functions, Deputy
Gina and Deputy Spencer are available to groups, schools, or organizations
for purposes of putting on general demonstrations and to discuss the police
K-9 role, and other related topics specific to the group audience and
interest. Although there is no charge for appearances, any financial
donation toward the Barry County Sheriff’s Department K-9 fund is greatly
appreciated. These funds will aid to purchase items mentioned above.
|
