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ZZ brought in as top dog at WCPD
Published November 23, 2009
WEST COLUMBIA — West Columbia Police Department’s newest officer doesn’t accept pay for his work. He only wants to chase a yellow tennis ball.
The department welcomed a K-9 named ZZ to the department last week, and the toss of the ball is his reward for finding narcotics or tracking someone.
While the ball is fun for the 16-month-old German shepherd, he is serious about his work, officers said.
“He’s a hard-working dog,” said Alfred Peña, who shares K-9 duties with Sgt. Larry Odom. “That’s what we wanted.”
To demonstrate ZZ’s abilities, officers hid a bag of narcotics in a car used by the police department. With a few commands in German, ZZ furiously ran the length of the car before stopping at the back passenger door. He then sat and whimpered once.
“He’s never missed anything,” Peña said.
As an officer walked to put the narcotics up, ZZ’s eyes followed him.
“He never took his eyes off of it,” said Laura Glaspie, dispatch supervisor.
The department has been without a K-9 unit for several years, Chief Michael Palmer said. It’s hoped bringing one back to the city will help police find drugs on traffic stops and in homes they are searching, Palmer said.
“We’ll also be assisting other agencies,” Peña said.
ZZ originally is from Germany and he was trained in Mexico. Peña uses German commands when he directs ZZ on a search so he won’t hear conflicting commands from others in English.
“It keeps him from getting confused,” Peña said.
Only Peña and Odom will work with ZZ, and when he’s not working, he’s usually practicing, Peña said.
“We’re real consistent about training every day,” he said.
Peña said the cost to buy ZZ and attend a week of training was $7,000. The city allotted $10,000 to the department’s K-9 unit for the dog and to build a kennel.
West Columbia business owner Jimmy Adams bought most of the materials for the kennel, which sits on a lot next to the West Columbia Police Department.
“It’s been a variety of people paying for stuff,” Palmer said.
Many of the police officers also spent time building the kennel, Palmer said.
The kennel was built for two dogs, and Palmer said he might consider buying another one sometime.
“We want to show the city what he can do,” Palmer said.
ZZ showed his worth during a traffic stop on Thursday, within a few days of coming to West Columbia. Police signaled for a woman who had been driving erratically to pull over in a grocery store parking lot, Palmer said. They called ZZ to the scene.
“He found marijuana in the woman’s purse,” he said.
John Tompkins is senior reporter for The Facts. Contact him at 979-849-8581.
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