May 21--Man's best friend has been one of police officers' best resources in Oklahoma City for the past 50 years.
Oklahoma City police began using dogs for police work in 1962.
The canine division initially started with three dogs -- one bought and two donated -- and one of their primary responsibilities was sentry duty at the city jail.
In the 1970s, the unit was expanded to eight officers and dogs and became the first in the state to use dogs to sniff out narcotics or explosives.
Today, nine police dogs assist their human counterparts in a long list of duties that range from locating missing children to sniffing out drugs in vehicles.
All but one of those dogs work at night.
"When the bad guys are out doing their thing, we're out there doing our best to stop them. We work when they work," Sgt. Coy Gilbert said.
Gilbert has been a police dog handler for 12 years. He's worked for Oklahoma City police since 2003.
"It's pretty unique. They've got your back all night long and you've got theirs, but when you go home, they become a family pet," Gilbert said.
A lifetime dog lover, he has seven dogs at home, including former police dog partner Aron, who turns 10 years old next month.
Aron -- an eight-year veteran of the department who was retired last month -- made news in 2006 when he was shot in the face while on duty.
He had chased a fleeing man who had escaped a police perimeter and was hiding underneath a van.
"I could hear him yelling, and I heard a pop. That didn't immediately grab me as a gunshot," Gilbert said.
After the man was apprehended, Gilbert located the wound. A small caliber bullet was lodged under Aron's jawbone.
"The dog did his job perfectly. Took a bullet and stayed in the fight. This big, bad police dog that got shot in the face never even whimpered," he said.
Aron's successor, 20-month-old Dezel, is a Dutch import. The black German shepherd's first day on the job was April 19.
"Dezel's got some big paws to fill," Gilbert said.
Dezel, Tank and Doc all joined the force this spring to succeed three retired police dogs. Doc also came from the Netherlands, and Tank came from the Czech Republic.
"They all come from overseas. We don't send people over to buy them, but there are specialty vendors that deal in the sale of police dogs," said Capt. Wade Gourley, who supervises the police dog division.
Before being put on the streets, the dogs undergo an average of 14 weeks of training, which includes obedience, agility, field searches, building searches, tracking and, of course, bite work.
"Everything we do has to be a game for them. You can force a dog to do a lot of things, but it's easier if it's fun for them," Gilbert said.
Police dogs use the full force of their jaws when apprehending a suspected criminal, but release that bite instantly if the handler gives the command, Gilbert said.
Canines use their keen sense of smell to locate even minuscule amounts of drugs in vehicles. Gilbert has seen a dog sniff out less than a gram of methamphetamines wrapped in cloth and stuffed under a seat and a pair of marijuana seeds on a car's floorboard.
That sense of smell also helps dogs find criminals who are trying to hide.
"Most of the time in Oklahoma, we've got a good wind to work with. These guys get creative and can hide in some really funky places," Gilbert said.
"It would take four or five officers a long time to search a large building like a school where a dog can clear it in about 10 minutes. It frees up manpower and is safer," he said.
Each dog has its own personality, and no matter how much training they receive, it's the little things you can't plan for that become hurdles, Gilbert said.
"With Aron, he was really cautious with storm drains. He wouldn't go anywhere near them. I had Aron square off with a wall furnace in a school one night," Gilbert said. By the end of his career, Aron had faced his fears and had apprehended more than one criminal from inside a storm drain, he said.
Police dogs are typically retired between 9 and 10 years old, Gourley said.
"We've got a dog out there that's 10 years old, and I don't think he's skipped a beat," he said.
"We don't want to work them until they can't work. If we see they're starting to lose interest or suffering from physical ailments, we'll start to retire them," Gourley said.
Outside the police canine facility in southwest Oklahoma City are nearly 30 headstones for police canines that have died. Their bodies are not interred there, and not all of these dogs have markers, but the stones are a testament to the bond between man and beast.
"These are officers. They're dogs, but to us they're more than that. They can be the difference between life and death for an officer," Gourley said.
The dog handler position is a coveted one within the police department. For the last opening, 14 officers applied, Gourley said. Transfers are few, so the window of opportunity opens only when another officer retires from the position. Gilbert plans on being one of those officers who retires as a handler.
"My last day out here, I hope I've got dog hair on my pants and mud on my boots," Gilbert said.
"As far as I'm concerned, it's the best job on the department."
Copyright 2012 - The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City
