New Berlin adds K-9 to village police force
NEW BERLIN – The Town of New Berlin Police Department will soon be adding a K-9 drug searching unit to its ranks. One of its officers decided to shoulder the cost of purchasing and training the purebred German Shepherd pup out of his own pocket.
Corporal Robert L. Jones is a three-year, part-time veteran of the New Berlin and Owego Police Departments and almost everywhere he goes, he is now followed by a 15-week-old Schutzhund German Shepherd named Bruno.
In just under 12 months, Bruno and Jones are scheduled to complete the required training for a Certified New York State Drug Detection K-9 dog at the Southern Tier K-9 Association’s facility in Binghamton.
Jones has dedicated his own free time and money to the project that will provide both departments he works for with a designated K-9 unit. Already Jones has spent over $2,000 in acquiring the animal and for its medical care.
“Why am I doing this? We need it, we just plain need it. It’ll make our job of local drug enforcement much easier here (in New Berlin) in the long run. We have serious drug problems in the local community and a dog can make a huge difference, not just here but in both New Berlin and Owego,” said Jones.
The two will travel to Binghamton to start the official training in about eight weeks when Bruno has matured more, but already Jones, who has prior K-9 training experience, has begun to condition the puppy to the basics of its future occupation. The puppy can already obey several commands, including sit and stay.
“I can’t begin to explain the value of having our own K-9 unit in the New Berlin PD. They’re worth their weight in gold,” said New Berlin’s acting officer in charge, Dominick Commessol.
Commessol said he and Jones had been “batting around” the idea of getting a police dog for the department for nearly three years.
“It’s just not a very viable option for a small department, unless you can get a grant that will pay for it and there aren’t any that I know of. And believe me we’ve looked,” he said.
Commessol commended Jones for stepping up and said he was working with the officer’s part-time schedule to help accommodate the K-9 training, which is a minimum of one full day a week at the Binghamton facility.
The only other option available to Jones and Bruno was to attend a six-month course at the State Police Academy in Albany.
“Obviously we can’t part with an officer for that period of time, even if we wanted to. There’s just no money for it,” said Commessol.
Jones has had past experience with professionally training dogs that reaches back to his years in the U.S. Air Force, when he was stationed in Alaska.
While in the state he joined a hunter’s retriever club that trained dogs for hunting. Then after finishing his service he returned to Oxford, where he worked a five year apprenticeship in K-9 handling with a certified trainer before entering the police academy. A few of the hunting dogs Jones helped to train later qualified for the Canadian Nationals hunting competition.
“I’ve always been interested in it since I was a kid. I realize this is different than training a hunting dog and I’m taking it cautiously, researching as much as possible,” said Jones.
The officer explained he had a personal investment in the training and took every avenue available to familiarize himself with what’s in store. Jones said he read through literature, consulted experienced police K-9 handlers and even breeders for advice. Even after all that, there is still no guarantee a dog will be able to perform.
“It can be stressful on the dog and when the time comes for testing, if he can do it then you’re certified; if not you have to try again next time,” said Jones.
Yet the officer remains confident that his sacrifices will pay off.
“A K-9 unit is an incredible resource to a police department and will benefit that local community greatly. That’s what I care about,” said Jones.
Commessol said K-9 units could detect even minute traces of drugs and would be particularity useful for traffic stops.
“We are not a big destination spot for drugs really, but there’s a lot of activity moving through New Berlin, especially along the state routes. A K-9 unit can give an officer probable cause he wouldn’t ordinarily have. Just having them along side, you will often send a person carrying drugs into a panic because they know just how capable they really are,” he said.
Corporal Robert L. Jones is a three-year, part-time veteran of the New Berlin and Owego Police Departments and almost everywhere he goes, he is now followed by a 15-week-old Schutzhund German Shepherd named Bruno.
In just under 12 months, Bruno and Jones are scheduled to complete the required training for a Certified New York State Drug Detection K-9 dog at the Southern Tier K-9 Association’s facility in Binghamton.
Jones has dedicated his own free time and money to the project that will provide both departments he works for with a designated K-9 unit. Already Jones has spent over $2,000 in acquiring the animal and for its medical care.
“Why am I doing this? We need it, we just plain need it. It’ll make our job of local drug enforcement much easier here (in New Berlin) in the long run. We have serious drug problems in the local community and a dog can make a huge difference, not just here but in both New Berlin and Owego,” said Jones.
The two will travel to Binghamton to start the official training in about eight weeks when Bruno has matured more, but already Jones, who has prior K-9 training experience, has begun to condition the puppy to the basics of its future occupation. The puppy can already obey several commands, including sit and stay.
“I can’t begin to explain the value of having our own K-9 unit in the New Berlin PD. They’re worth their weight in gold,” said New Berlin’s acting officer in charge, Dominick Commessol.
Commessol said he and Jones had been “batting around” the idea of getting a police dog for the department for nearly three years.
“It’s just not a very viable option for a small department, unless you can get a grant that will pay for it and there aren’t any that I know of. And believe me we’ve looked,” he said.
Commessol commended Jones for stepping up and said he was working with the officer’s part-time schedule to help accommodate the K-9 training, which is a minimum of one full day a week at the Binghamton facility.
The only other option available to Jones and Bruno was to attend a six-month course at the State Police Academy in Albany.
“Obviously we can’t part with an officer for that period of time, even if we wanted to. There’s just no money for it,” said Commessol.
Jones has had past experience with professionally training dogs that reaches back to his years in the U.S. Air Force, when he was stationed in Alaska.
While in the state he joined a hunter’s retriever club that trained dogs for hunting. Then after finishing his service he returned to Oxford, where he worked a five year apprenticeship in K-9 handling with a certified trainer before entering the police academy. A few of the hunting dogs Jones helped to train later qualified for the Canadian Nationals hunting competition.
“I’ve always been interested in it since I was a kid. I realize this is different than training a hunting dog and I’m taking it cautiously, researching as much as possible,” said Jones.
The officer explained he had a personal investment in the training and took every avenue available to familiarize himself with what’s in store. Jones said he read through literature, consulted experienced police K-9 handlers and even breeders for advice. Even after all that, there is still no guarantee a dog will be able to perform.
“It can be stressful on the dog and when the time comes for testing, if he can do it then you’re certified; if not you have to try again next time,” said Jones.
Yet the officer remains confident that his sacrifices will pay off.
“A K-9 unit is an incredible resource to a police department and will benefit that local community greatly. That’s what I care about,” said Jones.
Commessol said K-9 units could detect even minute traces of drugs and would be particularity useful for traffic stops.
“We are not a big destination spot for drugs really, but there’s a lot of activity moving through New Berlin, especially along the state routes. A K-9 unit can give an officer probable cause he wouldn’t ordinarily have. Just having them along side, you will often send a person carrying drugs into a panic because they know just how capable they really are,” he said.
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