Canine crime fighter joins OPD

By Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Thursday, May 22, 2008 11:02 AM PDT

Ontario — The Ontario Police Department has a new member on its force — a collie-mix drug dog named Stevie.

Stevie is 4 years old and has been certified twice by Oregon Police Canine Association. However, she is not currently certified.

“Both the dog and handler have to be certified together. She might still be certified with her old handler,” OPD canine officer BJ Synder said.

Stevie transferred to Ontario from Heppner, a town 50 miles south of the Columbia River.

Stevie’s former handler, Adam Breadfield, resigned from the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office last fall, according to Sheriff Kenneth Matalk.

ADVERTISEMENT

She is now handled by OPD canine officer Samuel Almaraz, who is also showing Synder the ropes of dog handling.

“Officer Almaraz started training a dog named Dory,” Synder said. “Then we got this other dog, Stevie, and I took Dory.”

Synder said OPD plans to have both dogs certified, which will allow OPD to have a dog on each shift. He said the dogs would work 40 hours a week, helping with drug searches.

He also said the dogs are not what is referred to as dual-purpose dogs, meaning they are not trained to attack on command.

As for OPD, Synder said it is important to keep up with training. He said officers train the dogs weekly in order to keep their senses keen when finding illegal drugs. He said a trainer will hide drugs in various places and allow the dog to find them.

“We try to keep it as realistic as possible,” he said.

The addition of Stevie to OPD’s canine consortium was made possible through community involvement.

“OPD came to me and said ‘We need this. Do you know anyone would be willing to contribute some funds?’” Ontario Lion’s Club President Michele Grimaldo said. “So I asked the Lion’s Club if they would like to donate and they said ‘yeah, we’ll do half.’”

The other half of the $700 pricetag came from State Farm Agent Brian Halcom.

“We try to do things along the way for the community,” he said.

Halcom said he, in conjunction with State Farm, has also donated money to buy a  911 simulator, which is used to teach children not to be afraid to call the police in emergencies.

“It teaches them to stay on the line and talk to the dispatcher,” he said.

Grimaldo said Almaraz had already complimented the dog’s search abilities.

“Sam says she’s very talented,” she said.

However, those abilities have yet to be put to the test in a real-world situation. Synder said she will get involved with searching for drugs such as methamphetamines and marijuana when she is certified.

“She’s just a big ball of energy,” he said.