Carlisle police take on K-9

REPRINTED COURTESY OF THE SENTINEL

By Jessica Bruni, Sentinel Reporter, February 20, 2007

“Suspect, drop your weapon or I’ll release my dog!”

Cpl. Dave Miller shouts at an intimidating-looking man with a knit cap pulled over his head. Crouched near Miller, Eagle, his Belgian Malinois, is tugging at his leash, whining in anticipation. The dog is 73 pounds of sinewy muscle and the baring of his teeth alone is enough to send most men running.

But the black-clad man facing him just grins and bears down like he’s about to attack. Miller repeats the warning. The man keeps grinning. Then Miller lets Eagle fly.

Fast as a bullet, Eagle sprints toward him, landing near his shoulder and sinking his teeth into his arm. The suspect struggles with him for a bit before dropping his weapon. Then he pats on Eagle on the rear and says, “Good boy.”

The “suspect” is actually Officer Anthony Cloud and this is an impromptu training session for Eagle. During the exercise, Cloud was wearing a bite sleeve, which Eagle is now happily prancing around with. If this were a real-life situation, that would have been an arm.

Since the retirement of Thunder in January, Eagle is the only K-9 at the Carlisle police department. He came to the borough in 2003 from Belgium, originally intended for an officer who left the department. Instead, Eagle — named so because he was brought to Carlisle with financial assistance from the Eagles organization — came into the care of Miller, a young officer eager to take on a four-legged partner.

For four weeks, the duo participated in an intense training program at Castle’s K-9 Inc., a renowned training academy located in Boiling Springs.

“It was intense,” Miller remembers. “You worked 12- to 14 hours days every day.”

Since Eagle was born in Belgium — many top working dogs are from Europe — Miller says he learned to speak his commands to the dog in Dutch. When they finished the academy, man and dog were certified to track suspects, search buildings, find drugs and more.

For the past three years, Miller and Eagle have found themselves called out to assist in all kinds of unusual situations within Carlisle and beyond. Once, Eagle tracked a suspect for a mile and a half. He’s helped find narcotics many more times.

Miller relishes the chance to help other officers. “I really enjoy being able to do the extra tasks,” he says.

Belgian Malinois are known for their intensity, and Eagle is no exception. He has no fear of guns, or heights, and when a camera innocently clicks in Miller’s direction, Eagle mistakes it for a weapon and jumps in front of him with his teeth bared, determined to protect his master. At home, he’s as gentle as a lamb, Miller says. He has no qualms about leaving the dog with his four daughters.

“He is so gentle with kids,” he says. “There’s just something innate within him.”

Eagle is often taken to schools around the area, where Miller talks to the students about his work as a K-9 officer. Eagle’s polite behavior there is a marked difference from the focused attitude he displays while on the scent or in training.

Cloud, who has acted as a decoy many times during training, admits he was nervous the first time Eagle ran at him.

“I was sweating profusely,” he says. “And I do believe it was the middle of winter.”

In a dead sprint, Eagle can reach up to 38 miles per hour. Getting tackled by him is akin to being hit by a furry wrecking ball. Eagle once knocked the 240-pound Cloud off his feet. Another time, he latched so hard onto the officer’s arm that he caused blood blisters. But Eagle has yet to bite someone during an apprehension. Miller says that once suspects see the dog, they just throw up their hands in defeat.

Officer Eric Dale calls working with a K-9 “the coolest thing ever.” For almost a decade, Dale was in charge of Thunder, who retired at the beginning of the year because of a lingering back injury. Although he’s gone from the station, he’s not forgotten.

Dale recalls with satisfaction that Thunder found the murder weapon in the 2002 shooting death of a Carlisle man by New York native Robert Coles. Coles is now serving 20 to 40 years in a state prison.

Since his retirement, Thunder is adjusting to the life of a house dog, although it hasn’t been easy. Used to going to work with his master, Thunder would howl as Dale left without him. When he sees his work collar, he still gets excited, thinking he’s about to return to his work of tracking drug suspects and searching buildings. Clearly, Thunder misses police work, but Dale misses his partner even more.

“He’s my best friend,” he says. “I’d pick him over any partner.”

Several officers have expressed an interest in training a new K-9 and Miller is hopeful the department will get one. However, wanting to stay true to Thunder, Dale doubts he’ll take on another dog. “I honestly believe I had the best dog ever,” he says. “I don’t know if I could have another one after that.”