Middlesex County Sheriff’s Officer Joseph Cruz handles Ajax, a member of the sheriff’s K-9 team. A jax has been added to the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office K-9 team. Since Ajax’s graduation from the Essex County K-9 Training Academy, he has been deployed as a drug-sniffing dog to numerous locations about two or three times a week throughout Middlesex County.
He started out as a seeing-eye dog and went through a rigorous 14-week training program at the Essex County K-9 Training Academy, according to a press release from Sheriff Mildred S. Scott. He attended the class with his handler to earn a K-9 basic training certificate.
While in training, Ajax went through an intense period of “drug imprinting,” during which he was trained to recognize the scent of various drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, crack, Ecstasy, heroin and hash. The dog is trained to associate the scent of a drug with play: When he locates a scent, he is then encouraged by his handler to play, and if the dog begins to scratch vigorously at a specific location, the area is searched for drugs.
The Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office K-9 team works with other law enforcement agencies including Middlesex County municipal police departments, the Monmouth County Transit Police, the Union County Sheriff’s Office, the New Jersey State Police, the Middlesex County Narcotics Task Force and the Somerset/Middlesex County Task Force. The K-9 team also works with Rutgers University Police to provide pregame security at football and basketball games and standby security details during the games.
Ajax lives with his handler, Sheriff’s Officer Joseph Cruz, and his family. Cruz takes care of all aspects of Ajax’s health. They train regularly and must be recertified two times a year.
Cruz also has a retired K-9 dog that still lives in his home and one other active K-9 dog. The third K-9 lives with a second Sheriff’s Office handler.
“The handler spends so much time with the dog and vice versa that they become like family. I don’t like to leave the dogs alone, so I bring them with me wherever I go, including some of my vacations,” Cruz said.
The Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office also has two bomb/gun dogs that sweep train stations and courthouses daily and respond to calls regarding bomb threats, explosives and crimes that require a gun dog. The bomb/gun dogs are usually called in a number of times per month.
According to Scott, the Sheriff’s Office has provided the services of bomb dogs to the county for many years.
“When I became sheriff, I saw a need for a drug dog and the freeholders were very supportive. Training and maintaining the well-being of these special dogs is a big commitment, but the benefits to the citizens of Middlesex County are infinite,” she said.