Washington canine team earns national recognition (Dec. 1)
By: Lauren Burgoon
WASHINGTON At 4 years old, the township’s second-youngest cop has been on the job for only two years and already is more decorated than some senior officers.
Not that awards matter much to Zilke she is more concerned with tracking down drugs, finding missing people and getting treated to a nice game of catch at the end of a long day.
The Police Department’s canine officer program began two years ago with the addition of Zilke, a German shepherd, to the force. In that time, the decision to use canine officers has paid off with drug busts, recovered money and more. Now Zilke and her handler, Patrolman Shawn Emmons, go to work each day as a nationally recognized team.
The Princeton-based Bear Search and Rescue Foundation recently honored the pair. The foundation is named after the most decorated rescue dog in history, who was first on the scene at ground zero in Lower Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001. Bear is credited with finding the most victims in the rubble, though his work likely led to the cancer that took his life a year later.
Now the foundation works to recognize other service dogs. It presented Mr. Emmons and Zilke with the Police Canine Team of the Year award at its annual Extraordinary Service to Humanity awards in September. The recognition could help bring more attention not only to Washington’s canine program, but also to the work of police dogs nationwide.
"People need to realize that these dogs are valuable to our society," said Scott Shields, head of the foundation and "dad" to the late Bear. "They can outperform us, but people underestimate the dogs. The canine unit is always the last to be called out, but it should be the first. When you have a missing child or an Alzheimer patient, 100 people get sent out to search when one canine unit could do the job."
Washington’s canine units, which as of this year also include Patrolman Eric Bakay and dog Valko, have aided in county and neighboring towns’ cases in addition to work in Washington. Zilke is credited with more than 150 arrests and several "finds" of missing or wanted people, Mr. Emmons said, including recent cases of finding a possibly suicidal East Windsor girl and a Washington man who allegedly threatened to kill his dog.
During traffic stops and searches, Mr. Emmons and Zilke have uncovered more than $80,000 in cash and several million dollars’ worth of narcotics, mostly outside of Washington.
The duo "are an unusual case because in a very short while they have uncovered so much and this isn’t a bad area," Mr. Shields said. "That would even be a lot for a canine unit in New York City to find. It proves how valuable the dogs are."
Getting Zilke to that level was not a short road. Both the dog and Mr. Emmons attended a 26-week training school to learn canine policing techniques. Mr. Emmons must keep up training at home, and man and dog attend refresher courses several times a year to stay on top of Zilke’s training.
For his part, Mr. Emmons said he is very honored to receive recognition from the foundation, especially from Mr. Shields, whom he considers a role model for all canine handlers. And even though Zilke is now known as one of the best canine officers, the award isn’t going to her head.
"She loves going to work. As soon as I put the uniform on, she runs to the driveway and is very excited," Mr. Emmons said. "She really wants to work and that’s what makes the difference between a pet and a police dog. All she wants is praise for doing a good job."