SMITH TOWNSHIP K-9 team sniffs out crimes big and small

No crime is too small for this officer.
By STEPHANIE UJHELYI
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
SMITH -- A 5-year-old German shepherd may just be Smith Township's best-kept secret, according to Police Chief John Slimak.
K-9 officer Kai, who trained in Girard before joining the police force almost three years ago, understands German and is skilled in the art of sniffing out narcotics, apprehending criminals and tracking suspects.
According to Kai's partner, Patrolman Paul Vesco, Kai gets quite a workout as one of the only two K-9 units in that area. In addition to backing up the Alliance unit, Kai and Vesco also periodically assist in Sebring and Goshen Township.
Vesco is a part-time officer for Alliance police.
Good team: Slimak, who is a 10-year veteran of K-9 work himself, describes Vesco and Kai as one of the best K-9 teams in the state of Ohio. He said Vesco is a conscientious handler who uses his dog on the smallest of crimes.
"He uses his dog on crimes where a lot of departments wouldn't even think of using a K-9 officer. His philosophy is the dog doesn't know how small the crime is, and he knows his dog well," the chief explained.
The department has a mutual-aid agreement with Copeland Oaks retirement community, whose security director is former Sebring Police Chief Paul Freer, to search its campus for any of its residents who may wander off.
Slimak said Vesco and Kai also trained with Sebring police, so officers don't contaminate the perimeter in case Kai ever has to be implemented there.
Vesco said Kai has been implemented in some possible criminal investigations, including backtracking the route of a mentally disturbed woman who left a restaurant, to determine she hadn't been abducted, and last month's investigation of drug possession by some junior high and high school pupils in the West Branch School District.
High praise: Alliance Police Chief Larry Dordea said: "The benefits to using a K-9 unit are many and varied. Kai can do the work of five men in a fraction of the time and can determine quickly during a suspected break-in if the intruder is still there or not. He also is wonderful for crowd control purposes.
"For a township department, a K-9 unit can be very cost-effective," Vesco said. The township's only expenditure for Kai is his insurance.
Slimak said as he watches Vesco and Kai relate, he sometimes wishes he were back in K-9 work. "I'm particularly interested in becoming a state trainer or handler for K-9s, but I don't have the time to do it," he explained.
He added the unit also has been a benefit for the department's relationships with other agencies and entities.
"[Vesco] spends a lot of time with other agencies, showing them what a dog can do for them," Slimak said, adding many agencies have preconceived notions about limits on K-9s that would be quashed if they met Vesco and Kai in person.
"Some other law enforcement agencies think that dogs are not useful in the rain or after dark, which isn't true, & quot; Slimak said. & quot;I would invite any agency to contact us regarding the use of dogs and their preconceived limitations, and I think we can open their eyes."