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Mido makes great addition Poland Township force
POLAND
About a month into the job, township police say they couldn’t be happier with the performance of the newest addition to the force.
Mido, a 11/2-year-old Belgian Malinois dog who joined the department in October, has conducted several successful narcotics searches and continues to advance in his training.
“He’s very social and friendly. And very obedient,” said Officer J.R. Jackson, Mido’s handler. “We do obedience [training] every day.”
Mido is doing well now, but it was a long road to get him here and to this point, Jackson said.
“After our old one retired in 2007, I kept pestering [Police Chief Brian Goodin] about getting one,” Jackson said. Mido is the department’s first police dog since then.
The police department started the process of getting a new dog about a year ago. The effort extended well beyond the department, however, Jackson and Goodin said.
“Everybody pitched in — the whole community — schools, businesses,” Jackson said.
Through various fundraisers and a sizeable donation from an anonymous donor, the department was able to raise the nearly $50,000 needed to get a dog and a car that is properly-equipped for a canine.
“To be fully funded, with no tax dollars, we had to get a new car, because otherwise we would have had to take a car out of our fleet,” Goodin said.
Shipping the dog to the United States and training him cost about $13,000, and the car and equipment cost about $36,000, Goodin said. The new car is equipped with a canine cage, equipment such as dog harnesses, and a fan controlled by a thermostat that turns on whenever the car gets too hot.
Before Mido arrived, officers had the option to apply to be the dog’s handler.
“I’m the only one who put in for it,” Jackson said. “It’s hard work. Through the training, it was blood, sweat and tears.”
After Mido arrived from Belgium in October, he and Jackson trained together for six weeks at Shallow Creek Kennels in Sharpsville, Pa. There, Mido learned commands in both Dutch and English — he knows about 10 right now — and the many other skills required of a police dog.
So far Mido has only done narcotics work, but Jackson said he is trained for other scenarios such as manhunts.
“The first night out, he already found some drugs in a car that probably would have gone undetected,” Goodin said. “Hopefully people realize we have that type of tool and [choose] not to do that activity in Poland Township.”
Goodin said a police dog’s ability to find things that officers might miss is the biggest benefit.
“In today’s society, with the type of drugs being transported ... it’s an added tool,” he said.
Jackson said another benefit is that jobs that otherwise would require several officers now require fewer, because Mido is doing some of the work.
“They’re [the dogs] unbelievable, the drive that they have,” Jackson said.