memorial2001

In Loving Memory of K-9 ZEUS October 29, 2002

Partner, Officer Mitch Waters Indianapolis Police Department IPD Canine Section - 901 North Post Road Indianapolis, Indiana 46219 (317) 327-6696 called/will get back to me. Talked to Ofc. Waters 10/30 waiting for photo

Officer Bitten By Indianapolis Police Department Dog Kills It Indianapolis Star -October 30, 2002 A dog in the Indianapolis Police Department's K-9 Unit died Sunday night, shot down after attacking an IPD officer. Zeus, a 2-year-old Dutch shepherd, attacked Officer Brett Seach sometime after 10:30 p.m. Sunday. Police hoped Zeus would help them find a man who had run away after Seach pulled his car over. Zeus tracked the suspect to a porch, but in the struggle to catch the man, Seach ended up shooting Zeus twice after the dog bit his forearm and bicep and caused deep puncture wounds, according to a police report. Zeus is the second dog to die from officer fire in IPD's K-9 unit, which is one of the largest in the country and has operated since 1960. An undercover narcotics officer killed the first dog, Valco, on July 17, 2000, during a drug raid on the Near Northside. The officer did not know Valco was a police dog. Only a few dogs die each year in the line of duty, said Joan Hess, assistant to the director of the U.S. Police Canine Association in Springboro, Ohio, the country's largest K-9 certification group. She said she had never heard of a dog being killed by officer fire. IPD has 11 bulletproof vests for its 33 dogs, but officers prefer not to use the vests because they make the dogs hot and tired, said Lt. Paul Ciesielski. The vests usually go on when an armed suspect is present, he said. Zeus and his partner, Officer Mitch Waters, were called to the traffic violation Sunday night and found the suspect in the 3700 block of Rural Street. Waters had let go of Zeus' leash to take a lawn chair the suspect was using to poke the dog. Seach was providing cover for Waters at the time Zeus attacked him, but Ciesielski did not know if Seach had his gun drawn. A dog might run at an officer with a gun pulled, and Dutch shepherds are known to be more excitable than other dogs in K-9 units, Hess said. Zeus and Waters, a nine year IPD veteran, graduated from training and began patrolling together in August. Waters plans to hold a private burial for Zeus. The suspect, 18 year old Michael A. Dobbins, was arrested later and faces preliminary charges of auto theft, resisting arrest and battery on a law enforcement animal. Seach and Dobbins were treated at Wishard Memorial Hospital and released.

Officer Waters started training another K9 named MIKKO Nov. 4, 2002

K-9 deaths spur IPD to rethink policies Changes proposed to protect animals, ease patrol officers' fears of being bitten. By Tom Spalding November 21, 2002 They are four-legged friends of law enforcement -- but in the past 21/2 years, Indianapolis police officers have proved far more deadly to their K-9s than the accused crooks the dogs often chase. Two of the dogs have been shot by police officers, but none has been killed by a suspect. That's why IPD, which has the nation's second-largest K-9 squad, is making changes to protect its animals while allaying fears among the street-beat patrol officers. Those steps include proposals to change policy, toughen investigations of attacks and add extra training for street cops. Ironically, because police often see firsthand the dogs' effectiveness at snaring fleeing suspects, many have a real fear of the animals' ferocity. "It's not really a high risk," said Sgt. Craig Patton, a lead K-9 trainer. "However, it is something that can occur." A dog bite led to the most recent K-9 fatality on the 33-dog, 19-officer Indianapolis K-9 unit. On Oct. 27, an East District officer shot and killed a 2-year-old Dutch shepherd named Zeus after the dog mistakenly bit his arm. "If you are afraid of police dogs, I understand that," Patton told a day-shift group of officers at the West District on Thursday. "But it's not a reason that if you are going to be bitten, to give the dog the death penalty." At the Indianapolis Police Department, incidents of dogs biting an officer occur, on average, just once a year. Besides the bite to the officer, K-9s bit seven people during felony captures in October, while 22 other felony suspects and four misdemeanor suspects were captured without a bite. And dogs were used in 58 building searches, 72 narcotics searches and 17 explosives checks. IPD's rate of dogs biting suspects -- about 19 in every 100 cases where K-9s are used -- is lower than a national standard. Merritt Clifton, editor of a Clinton, Wash.-based animal protection newspaper called Animal People, said a handful of police dog tragedies occur annually. Other experts say it just can't be helped. "It's always good to make changes," said Bob Eden, a dog handler in British Columbia who operates the K9 Academy For Law Enforcement. "It's still going to happen. It's the nature of the beast. Dogs just do not have the ability to reason things out, so accidents occur." IPD's Emily Huff, a day-shift patrol officer in the West District, said she's been involved in on-foot pursuits and chases where a K-9 was at the front. "I stay back and I don't worry about them biting me -- it doesn't even really cross my mind. They make our jobs easier." For skeptics, though, "I don't think it'll change the way they feel," she said. Police officers' fear of dogs extends to those on the street. In fact, nearly three-fourths of the time when Indianapolis police fire their guns, it's to shoot a dog. In September, an Indianapolis Star computer analysis of police records uncovered the trend, a pattern of shootings that resulted in the deaths of 44 dogs since 2000. IPD regulations regarding animals allow officers to shoot "in imminent danger situations." IPD's dogs perform a range of tasks, from pregame bomb sweeps at Indianapolis Colts and Indiana Pacers games to narcotics searches -- their efforts recovered $2 million alone this year -- as well as suspect apprehensions. To his knowledge, Patton said, no officer has ever suffered a line-of-duty death from a K-9 attack. An IPD undercover narcotics officer killed the first dog, Valco, on July 17, 2000, during a drug raid on the Near Northside. The officer did not know that Valco, who was shot four times, was a police dog. In the most recent case, Zeus and his partner, Officer Mitch Waters, were called to a traffic violation and found a suspect in the 3700 block of Rural Street. Waters had let go of Zeus' leash to take a lawn chair the suspect was using to poke the dog. Officer Brett Seach was providing cover for Waters at the time Zeus attacked him. Police dogs should generally be on a leash, but it is acceptable to let a dog go free if circumstances warrant. If the suspect runs around a house or goes out of sight, the dog handler is not to let the dog go further. "They are essential, as far as I am concerned, especially around here where the population is so dense and the houses sit so close to each other," Patrolman Mark Frazier said. "You get a tight perimeter set up, and the dog will find the person."

In Loving Memory of K-9 ZUCCO (Belgian Malinois) October 30, 2002 LODD

Partner Officer Michael Hughes New Orleans Police Department K9 Division Harrison & Marconi Sts. New Orleans, LA 70124 504.483.2040 - *504.826.2828

thank you Rudy Fascio & Robert Young for your help

Police dog tracking suspect is killed 3 N.O. men booked in bank robbery try 10/31/02 -By Walt Philbin or (504) 826-3301 - The Times-Picayune A bank robbery suspect chased by police into a Lakeview neighborhood Wednesday fatally shot a police dog before emerging from beneath a house and surrendering to police SWAT negotiators about six hours later, authorities said. Two other men, including a suspected getaway driver, also were arrested in the case. All three were booked with attempted bank robbery, a federal charge that carries up to 20 years in jail, the FBI said. The police dog, a Belgian Malinois named Zucco, died of a gunshot wound shortly after being taken to a veterinary hospital, police said. "It's tough. It's like one of your own going down," said Sgt. Harold Chambliss, a long-time K-9 member who works in the same unit as the dog's handler, Officer Michael Hughes. Hughes "is devastated," Chambliss said. The K-9 unit was responding to an incident that began when a man with a revolver confronted a bank employee opening the Hibernia Bank at 7033 Canal Blvd. shortly before 7:30 a.m., and forced him inside, FBI spokeswoman Sheila Thorne said. The man, joined inside the bank by a second man carrying a shotgun, ordered the employee to open the bank's vault, the FBI said, but the employee said he wasn't able to, and the two men left. The alarm sounded, and two N.O.P.D. officers detailed to a Lakeview Crime Prevention District responded quickly and spotted two suspects on foot. Police arrested Darius Copelin, 20, 4601 Stephen Girard St., in the 800 block of Turquoise Street in Lakeshore, and recovered a shotgun. Police spotted the other suspect, Andre Cassimer, 19, 3704 Garden Oaks Drive, Algiers. He emerged from a nearby driveway, jumped a fence and disappeared. Police quickly surrounded the block, and Hughes led Zucco from yard to yard to track the man, police spokesman Capt. Marlon Defillo said. When they got to a house at Walker and Memphis streets, Zucco picked up a scent and started to go under the house, officers said. That's when he was shot. Hughes picked up the dog and rushed to a police unit. Two neighborhood boys, ages 12 and 8, watched from the front window of their house across the street. "He had the dog in his arms like this," the older boy said, making a cradle with his own arms. Authorities evacuated residents from the house and two adjacent to it as the SWAT team tried to negotiate with Cassimer, first by megaphone, then with a microphone they dropped beneath the house, Defillo said. After a few hours, he began talking with negotiators and asked whether he could talk with his grandmother, officers said. Shortly before 1:30 p.m., he agreed to crawl out from under the side of the house and surrender to negotiators, police said. "We waited him out and he finally got tired," Defillo said. A handgun was found under the house, police said. After the federal charge is resolved, Cassimer, also faces a state charge of killing a police dog, which carries a possible three years in jail, Defillo said. A third man, Calvin Anthony Scott III, 22, 5947 Providence St., was arrested later Wednesday afternoon. Authorities allege Scott was the getaway driver.

cards mailed 11/5/02 & arrived in time for service. Thanks to all the help from Rudy & Robert.

on Zucco The loss of a man's best friend 11/10/02 By Sheila Stroup - Staff writer/The Times-Picayune A memorial ceremony Thursday, November 7, 2002. The ceremony for Zucco, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois, will be at 10:30 a.m. at the New Orleans Police Department K-9 compound in City Park at Harrison Avenue and Marconi Boulevard. It was a perfect fall morning, not cold but crisp, with a sky so blue it could bring tears to your eyes. Thursday was the kind of day I think of as "dog weather." On such a day, a dog will lift his nose and breathe in deeply, savoring the possibilities. It was the right kind of morning to pay tribute to Zucco. At the New Orleans Police Department K-9 compound in City Park, the air was laced with rich aromas coming from the stable next door, and dozens of police officers stood waiting for the ceremony to begin, their uniform shirts matching the color of the sky. A plaque next to the wooden urn told the police dog's story: "In memory of K-9 Zucco," it said. "A 4-year-old Belgian Malinois was killed in the line of duty on Oct. 30, 2002, while he and his handler, Police Officer Michael Hughes, were searching for a bank robbery suspect." (continue --------------> )

Dogs and heaven The service was held in the shade of a pecan tree, in the training yard where Zucco had learned the skills he needed to become one of New Orleans finest. The Rev. David Julian, police chaplain, gave the invocation, and after his prayer, he told how Zucco had returned to his handler's side after he was shot. "Zucco was faithful to the end," he said. "He was a faithful member of the New Orleans Police Department." Police spokesman Capt. Marlon Defillo thanked the crowd for coming to the service and for their concern for Zucco and his partner. Then he read the poignant "Dog's Poem After Death," about a dog who tells his master he will wait for him outside the pearly gates because, "I'll miss you so much, if I went in alone it wouldn't be heaven to me." 'Part of the family.' Police Superintendent Edwin Compass spoke of Zucco's courage and dedication. "These animals aren't just animals; they're part of the family," he said. "It's a sad day for the New Orleans Police Department, because he was one of our own." A wreath of white carnations trimmed with blue ribbons was brought forward while the lonesome sound of "Amazing Grace" played on bagpipes filled the air. After the 21-gun salute, an officer played taps on the trumpet, and as the echo began, dogs in a nearby building began to bark, saluting Zucco in their own way. When the service was over, people lined up to offer their condolences to Hughes, saying the awkward things you say to a man who has recently lost someone he loves. I asked him if he would get another partner, and he said yes, that in a few weeks he'd have a replacement dog. Could another dog replace Zucco? I asked, knowing the answer as soon as I asked the question. "No," he said, smiling sadly. "Not Zucco. Never."

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