German shepherd partners with patrolman.
By: Lea Kahn
Patrolman Ronald Buchanan has a new partner. But this partner carries neither a gun nor a badge his armament is his nose.
Shadow, a 2-year-old German shepherd, joined the Lawrence Township Police Department after completing a 12-week course that trained him to sniff out bombs. He has been accompanying Patrolman Buchanan on his rounds for the past month.
Shadow was acquired through a Homeland Security grant administered by Mercer County, Patrolman Buchanan said. He credited Chief of Police Daniel Posluszny and Deputy Chief of Police Joseph Prettyman with seeking the grant.
During the 12-week course offered by the New Jersey State Police, the dog-and-handler teams Shadow and Patrolman Buchanan were among 13 such teams met four days a week. The dogs learned the scent of many explosive materials.
"The dog knows what he is looking for," Patrolman Buchanan said. "He will pull you over to a site and sit down. As the handler, you are the brains. You direct him to an area so he can do the work. It’s not for you to find the explosives it’s for the dog to find them. You have to trust the dog."
But there is more to the bomb-sniffing course than learning to distinguish between explosive materials scents and other scents, the police officer said.
It is important to socialize the dog, Patrolman Buchanan said. That’s why the dogs and their handlers visited Giants Stadium and railyards. They visited the Statue of Liberty, took a ride on a ferry and on a United States Coast Guard vessel. They also hopped aboard a helicopter, he said.
"The reason we went to different places is to get the dogs socialized, so they won’t break down at an incident," he said. "Some dogs washed out. They couldn’t meet the criteria of a noisy environment, or being able to jump up on a table or over a box. It’s not good enough that the dog has a good nose."
Now that Shadow has completed the training course, he has become part of the New Jersey State Render Safe Task Force. This means Shadow could be called upon to assist the state police in an emergency perhaps to search cars at the Lincoln Tunnel or Verrazano Narrows Bridge for explosives, Patrolman Buchanan said.
"There is a need for (a bomb-sniffing dog)," Patrolman Buchanan said. "After Sept. 11, I think police departments realized it is our responsibility to try to keep the public safe. The times have changed. This is not the America of 20 years ago."
Some people may be a little apprehensive when they see Shadow at Quaker Bridge Mall, for example, but soon they will realize that he is there for their protection, Patrolman Buchanan said.
"Once they get more exposure to Shadow, they will realize that he is working," the police officer said. "The chances of a person planting something in the mall they will realize that we are on top of it and they are not going to do it. I think it’s a deterrent. Once people realize the dog is a deterrent, it makes them feel safe."
While Shadow is a German shepherd, he does not resemble the German shepherds that the average American is accustomed to seeing. His coat is an overall mix of brown and black fur not the traditional black-on-tan or black-on-silver of the typical German shepherd.
Shadow was born in Czechoslovakia and imported into the United States, Patrolman Buchanan said. European dogs have a working background, not a pet background, he said.
"If you look at Shadow, his personality is mellow," he said. "But when you start him up to search, he goes to work. A bomb-sniffing dog is not a pet it’s a tool. For bomb sniffing, you can use any breed of dog with the ability to search and hunt. German shepherds have excellent noses. They have been used in police work for years."
For Patrolman Buchanan, becoming Shadow’s handler is a perfect fit. He likes dogs and takes Shadow home with him each night. He volunteered to become the bomb-sniffing dog’s handler when the department received the grant.
"I always wanted to do it," he said. "To me, it’s a heck of an opportunity. When you do something you like, it is the best of both worlds. I get to be a cop and a K-9 officer."
But with this opportunity comes a lot of responsibility. When he volunteered to become a bomb-sniffing dog handler, he viewed a program that showed bomb victims. It was a chilling sight, he said.
"It’s about seeing kids go home at night and being safe," Patrolman Buchanan said of his new assignment. "At first, you don’t think that way ‘It’s my dream to have a dog and go to work.’ But when you see the program, it changes your way of thinking. You start thinking about your own kids.
"There is no higher responsibility in police work than bomb-sniffing work," Patrolman Buchanan said. "It’s to be able to say (to a school building principal) that it’s OK to go back into school. What it’s about is possibly saving someone’s life."

