Officer Arco on the Job
By Brandy Nance
Originally published 03:12 p.m., June 26, 2008
Updated 03:12 p.m., June 26, 2008
There’s a new police officer in town, and after being on the job for only a month he’s already busted a potential meth lab.
Arco, the newest member of the Emporia Police Department, will be 2 years old in August. Even at a young age, he takes his job very seriously. Arco is a multi-purpose police dog, a German shepherd-Belgian malinois mix and a first for the Emporia Police Department. He arrived on the force after 10 weeks of training with Emporia Police Officer Lance Delgado, which ended on May 16. When not on the job, he lives with Delgado, who is his handler. The Emporia Police Department acquired Arco from the Hill Country Dog Center in San Antonio, Texas. The company specializes in police dog training. According to the company’s Web site, the center trains dogs for everything from patrolling to cadaver work. Arco is a multi-purpose dog and can search for narcotics, track people, locate evidence, perform building and area searches, assist with felony car stops and track people who flee from police.
Delgado said Arco was selected out of a variety of dogs from the Texas center. He was selected to the force for his desirable traits.
“You look for certain traits in dogs,” he said, adding that the dogs are graded on certain tests to see if they are a good fit.
Polic Chief Gary Smith said the Emporia Police Department wanted a dog that was more on the quiet side.
“More of a general purpose police dog,” he said. “The Kansas Highway Patrol and the Sheriff’s Office did the research for us.”
Arco is a quiet dog but he’s still a working dog “People can look at him, but we don’t encourage people to come up and hug him,” Smith said. “He will not go after a suspect unless he’s ordered to bite him and he will bark and sit when he finds stuff.”
When Arco goes home with Delgado at night he stays in a kennel. He works his eight hours and goes home just like everybody else.
“He’s not viewed as a pet,” Delgado said. “He pretty much stays in a kennel.”
Smith said the department decided to get a police dog after realizing the benefits of dogs to the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office and the Kansas Highway Patrol. Smith said the Emporia Police Department’s program is modeled after the sheriff’s and the KHP. The dog was paid for through donations. The Lyon County Attorney’s Office gave a donation, as did a lot of businesses and individuals, Smith said. Acquiring the dog was an easy process, Smith said, as it was pretty much done by the time he took over the job.
Delgado was chosen to be the handler after a lengthy selection process, Smith said. Applications were taken from officers who were interested. Each officer wrote an essay stating why he wanted the position and had to be tested on physical fitness, quick decision making and response to critical situations. Spouses were interviewed as well because of the commitment it takes to handle a police dog.
“The dog is an integral part of the family,” Smith said.
Delgado said he wanted to be a handler because he’s always been interested in it but had never had the opportunity.
“I applied for it and was selected and here we are,” Delgado said, as he stood next to Arco who was lying next to him in the police department parking garage.
Arco has already proved his worth to the department, said Delgado and Smith. A search was done on a car in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Emporia recently. After the people denied the police a search, Arco was allowed to sniff the car. He detected evidence of narcotics and officers were then able to search the car, Smith said. In the car was all the equipment and chemicals needed to make meth. The occupants had been going from store to store buying all the pseudoephedrine they could.
“It could have been made in the vehicle,” Smith said. “The incident with the meth lab is an example of being more pro-active. We kept them from having that around town and kept them from selling (meth).”
But before Delgado and Arco could become a team on the force, they had to attend a 10-week training course together where they learned how to work together and Arco learned more advanced police work. When he left the center in Texas, he had basic training; the more advanced training was done with Delgado. Training does not stop with the initial 10 weeks, Delgado said. The minimum training hours per week is eight hours and Delgado tries to do something with him every evening to keep his skills fresh.
There are challenges to handling a police dog, including ongoing training with Arco, and it’s not a responsibility Delgado takes lightly.
“He’s a dog,” Delgado said. “He’s a very capable dog but a dog at day’s end. It’s a big responsibility handling a dog and keeping him where he needs to be.”
Arco has settled into his new role and new atmosphere well. He eagerly followed Delgado around the police department and lay down when told, always keeping his eye on his handler and the situation around him.
“He’s comfortable in any environment,” Delgado said. “He’s really an asset.”
The evaluation phase of the benefits of having a police dog on the force will last about a year, Smith said. The program has to prove it is cost effective.
“It’s been very well received by our officers,” Smith said.