The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
POLICE WELCOME NEWEST OFFICER
K-9 Axel ready for duty
Eastlake Police Department’s new officer is a little different than the rest of the officers in the department. This one is furry, walks on four legs and barks.
The department officially welcomed new K-9 officer Axel immediately following the completion of his training on Nov. 9.
Eastlake officer Mike Ward has spent the past six weeks in Sharpsville, Pennsylvania, extensively training with the new K-9.
The city has been without a K-9 since 2013 when K-9 Ekko was retired.
The department’s budget and the cost obtaining a qualified dog and the time and money required for training made it difficult for the department to get another K-9.
Ward said he has been interested in being a K-9 handler since he started as an officer in 2003 and got permission from Police Chief Larry Reik to apply for grants to help purchase the dog.
An outpouring of support
from the community along with the grants made it possible for the department to obtain Axel, outfit a car for him, pay for training and purchase supplies for him.
Eastlake residents offered to hold fundraisers, and contribute supplies to help defray the cost. Civic groups such as The Gray Riders and Brothers of Descent also helped with fundraising efforts.
“Its amazing. When he (Reik) gave me the OK to put a K-9 proposal together and I started getting quotes for everything, I found out it was $55,000 to start from scratch to get a car and outfit it and the dog and school all the essential needs for the dog,” Ward said. “I thought, ‘man its going to take a while,’ but once we started fundraising, it started flowing in from everywhere in the city and outside the city.”
The Cleveland Police Department is helping with the donation of a bulletproof vest for Axel.
Eastlake Mayor Dennis Morley said he was appreciative of the community for their help in coming up with the resources needed to obtain the dog.
According to Reik, the initial outlay of cost for the dog was all raised through grants and donations. Now, the city will assist with the ongoing maintenance costs.
Axel is a shepherd/Malinois mix who is trained in narcotics detection, tracking of people, articles searches and suspect apprehension.
In addition to sniffing out marijuana, cocaine, heroine, methamphetamines and any of its derivatives, he can also aid in the recovery of a runaway child or a missing elderly person with dementia and find a set of keys lost in a field, Ward said.
Axel began his training overseas in Slovakia, before coming to the U.S. and completing another eight weeks of training at the training facility in Pennsylvania. He was then paired with Ward for an additional six weeks of training.
Students from Edison and Longfellow elementary schools helped with naming the dog. The department turned to the schools for suggestions from the students and awarded the classroom who picked the winning name a pizza party.
Ward said there were a lot of good suggestions from the students but Axel just kind of stood out to him.
Reik believes the dog is a nice additional resource for the department in regard to not only drug detection and criminal apprehension.
“That’s just the enforcement part of it,” the chief said. “Having the extra community tool for officer Ward to take Axel into the schools is a nice bridge between the police and the community.”
Ward works both Lake Academy and North High School and will have the K-9 there with him when not on patrol. Reik believes having the dog at the schools on a weekly basis will provide a little more security at the schools and serve as a prevention tool.
Axel can also provide mutual aid to other cities that don’t have a dog. According to Ward, if he and the dog were available and call volume permitted they would go assist other agencies.
Ward said he is excited about having Axel and can’t wait to get to work with him.
Ward is now thinking about ways to give back.
“I was trying to come up with ideas on how to give back to the community because the community gave us so much in helping us get the dog and all the equipment for the dog,” Ward said. “We want to do a food drive to give back to the Willoughby-Eastlake School District Food Center and give back to the community since they gave us so much.”