MPD’s new patrol officer has nose for narcotics

Thanks to a $15,000 grant funded by the National Rifle Association and Maricopa Police Department’s $7,000 match, Maricopa’s first K-9 program has been implemented in the fight against crime, specifically drug smuggling.

One of the first purchases with the grant monies was $10,000 for Officer Kasper. He is a three-and-a-half-year-old Belgian Malinois, the most common breed used as police dogs because of their intelligence and willingness to be trained and worked.

Officer Josh Boyd was quick to boast about Officer Kasper’s prior training, “He was brought from the Netherlands where he recently competed in KNPV trials (Royal Dutch Police Dog Association), which is a sport dog competition. He received 426 points out of 440 points.” He added, “Some of the areas that were tested included obedience and control, tracking scent, agility and attack deployment.”

Deployment of a highly trained K-9 can bring a swift resolution to many situations where there is a high probability of officers or suspects being seriously injured or killed.

As for his home life, Officer Boyd says Kasper “gets along great with Lena,” Officer Boyd’s one-and-a-half-year-old Great Dane. He’s even appropriated one of her toys as his own, and she doesn’t seem to mind.

$5,000 of the grant went to upgrade a patrol vehicle to make it suitable for a K-9. One of the improvements made to the vehicle was a kennel insert to keep Officer Kasper safe in the rear compartment of the vehicle while on patrol. The air conditioning vents were supplemented in the vehicle, and a ‘Hot and Pop’ system was installed.

Officer Boyd explained, “The ‘Hot’ is a heat alarm that will alert me if the vehicle’s cooling system should fail. It also opens a door to let the K-9 out after about four minutes of warnings. The ‘Pop’ is a door opening remotely should I need assistance like during a traffic stop when I cannot physically get back and open the door to let him out.” MPD is still looking to purchase a K-9 ballistic vest.

The duo is currently attending the DPS Patrol School for K-9 units in Casa Grande. Following that they will be in a five-week narcotics detection training.

Officer Boyd and Officer Kasper will be assigned to the Street Crimes Unit. “We will be available to the patrol 24 hours a day, seven days a week and even other local agencies requesting assistance,” said Boyd.

Officers Boyd and Kasper will be hitting the streets of Maricopa sometime in August, according to MPD spokesperson Sgt. Stephen Judd.

Judd added that the K-9 team will be available for a Back-to-School Safety demonstration at the AmTrust Bank parking lot in Maricopa from 2 to 4 p.m. on Aug. 22.

Photo by Brandi Stange