After a search and criminal apprehension in June, Patrick County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Crash is excited to get back into the field and continue being a respectable member of the “pawlice.”
Crash, a Belgian Malinois, has been with the department since 2020. He previously served in Tazewell County as a narcotics dog.
Senior Deputy and Crash’s handler, Dustin Dillon, said that with the legalization of marijuana, Tazewell County decided to ‘wash’ Crash.
“We were lucky enough to pick him up. I think he had been up there for a year, and I think he had had two or three apprehensions out there before we got him,” Dillon said.
Dillon said Crash performs basic patrols, tracking for human scent, area searches, article searches, apprehension and building searches for the office.
Since joining the department, Dillon estimates Crash has been involved in about 50 cases, including search warrants, tracking and apprehensions.
“That don’t sound like a lot in five years, but there’s some K-9s that never really have one. Then of course you can’t just send him on anybody. There are standards to when I can actually use him,” he said.
Dillon said Crash is a big asset to the community, and notes there have been several cases he believes would not have been successful without the dog’s tracking ability or his presence causing people to give up and surrender.
“It’s a big safety issue for all of us. It’s much easier if they give up and come out when they hear the dog. He’s been very helpful. If he’s on scene, and he’s out of the car, they’re usually much more compliant. I don’t think they’re worried about hurting the dog, I think it’s a ‘I don’t want that dog to bite me,’” Dillon said.
Throughout his tenure with the department, Crash has never been in danger or hurt.
“I’m careful about where I’ll send him. I mean if it looks like he can break a leg or something like that, I wouldn’t send him in on it. It’s all situational based of course,” Dillon said.
Crash is the first police dog Dillon has had in his role as a K-9 handler.
“He’s a good one. I told him he’s been so good, I don’t know if I want another one. I got spoilt. The first three weeks of school he knew what to do—I didn’t know what to do—but once we clicked it’s been pretty smooth sailing,” Dillon said.
Since Dillon has had the police pooch, Crash’s typical days are all or nothing when it comes to action.
“We’ll go weeks without a call, and then I think” one month, “we had four calls that week. It’s feast or famine around here,” Dillon said.
He typically gets Crash ready to go in the car around 7 a.m. before arriving at the office.
“I try to get him three or four breaks a day, do something with him to stimulate his mind, cause he’s pretty wired. Most times, we’ll do something here out in the yard to make him think, and go home, walk him, feed him, and we do it again tomorrow,” he said.
For training, Dillon said some fellow officers will run and hide for Crash to find.
“If I get anybody else to hide, they’d usually run up here to the side of the road and sit down.”
Animal Control Officer Christian Gilbert “will be gone for an hour-and-a-half and climb a tree and then make me come find him,” he said.
“It’s like adult hide-and-go-seek with consequences,” Gilbert added.
While Crash is typically excitable and playful, Dillon said once he puts the vest on him, he’s a changed pup.
“It’s like a light switch. He’s ready to go to work. He’s got his head up looking around to see what’s going on,” Dillon said.
While they have had multiple tracks, Dillon said the incident in June was the first track that ended in both an area search and an apprehension for Crash.
“I was pretty proud of that to see him get excited, and cut him loose, and go to work. Because we didn’t have a clue that guy was there, but the dog knew where he was, you could tell. With these dogs, you look for any type of change in behavior or alertness. We tracked for 25-30 minutes, and he was just goofing off you could tell. Then we got back to where he was picking up scent, his ears perked up, head started working, tail started wagging. You could tell we were getting close. He was getting excited,” Dillon said.
While Crash is a good tracker, like most police dogs, his favorite type of case to work is apprehension.
“Because it’s fun for them—it’s a game so to speak. Our area searches usually with some type of apprehension at the end of it. I’d say that’s where he really shines. I guess it’d kind of be like an adrenaline build for a human. It’s pretty much the most exciting part of what he does. It’s not a job to them, it’s more of a game with a reward at the end, so to speak. Like we were at a track and I say good boy and take him back to the car. He gets bored with that. I think it’s the action part of it,” he said.
With tracking, Dillon estimates Crash has an above 50 percent success rate.
“A lot of tracks we’ve been on, usually they’re never easy. Usually, we’re an hour or two behind or later, and it’s weather-based and (that) makes it difficult to start the track and keep it. Then you have the terrain and how many other people have been walking around disturbing the scent. So, it’s not a bad number I don’t think,” he said, adding Crash is more effective with tracks that have a good setup.
Crash turned 8 on July 7. Dillon said most police dogs retire around 9 years old, depending on health and other factors.
“But he’s still full of it, full of himself, and drive. Healthwise, he seems perfectly healthy, so we’ll use him I know through this year, and I guess we’ll reevaluate and see where he’s at. If he’s still wanting to work, I don’t see why we’d wash him early, good of a dog as he is,” Dillon said.
After retirement, Dillon plans for Crash to stay with him. He added it’s typical in most law enforcement agencies for the handler to keep the police dog, if possible.
