The Weatherford Police Department is looking to expand its K-9 division after the recent loss of Police Service Dog Melee.
Melee had to be put down suddenly August 19 after his battle with cancer suddenly took a turn for the worse.
Now, WPD is working to establish a not-for-profit to raise money for another service dog to take some of the work off PSD Falco and Sgt. Kendrick Johnson. It should be ready in the next couple of weeks.
Melee’s handler Lt. Laura Cox has been with him since 2012, when she graduated from CLEET and joined the department. She became his sole handler in 2017 when PSD Igor retired and Cox’s husband, Officer Joseph Cox, decided to step down from being a K-9 handler.
“Back in May, I felt a large mass on Melee’s chest which popped up overnight,” Cox, said.
Melee’s vet removed the mass and did a biopsy revealing Grade 3 cancer, which is the farthest a cancer can get in dogs. The mass was removed and Melee went back into service after a short break.
Unfortunately, Melee later took a turn for the worse.
“What’s crazy is I had gone on vacation, and he was fine before I left,” Cox said. “He went downhill the day I returned. They know. He knew I needed to be there for him.”
During his time with the department, Melee helped Cox recover illegal marijuana, illicit currency used by drug dealers, paraphernalia and “a ton of methamphetamines.” He also helped recover an iPad stolen from East Elementary.
Cox said one of Melee’s favorite things on the job was article searches (looking for a particular item). She said he was very good at it and has even used it to find evidence when an officer had been shot.
“A police officer in another town had been shot by a suspect, so his department was searching for the gun,” she said. “They couldn’t find it, so they brought us in and Melee searched for the scent of human and found the fire arm. It was one of the proudest moments in the world for me as a handler and him as a dog to protect one of our own.”
The WPD K-9 division officially began in 1961 with PSD Ranger and Officer Joe Clear. A second dog did not join the department until 2000 with PSD Ciro. He was followed by PSD Igor in 2009, PSD Diesel in 2011, PSD Melee in 2012 and PSD Falco in 2018.
Igor retired in 2017 due to hip issues and was put down May 23. Diesel was purchased by another officer on the force and left with his handler in 2012. Since Melee’s passing, Falco remains the only service dog on the force, which leaves a lot of work for one K-9 unit.
In 2019, WPD had 320 K-9 deployments. In 2018, the department had a total of 89 deployments, most of which were Melee. Sgt. Johnson said one dog can do about 100 deployments a year, but two or more can cover a lot of ground.
This year, the department reports only 100 deployments through June. However, Johnson said the COVID-19 pandemic makes officers cautious about getting too close to vehicles during traffic stops.
When Johnson joined the department in 2015, the K-9 division was responsible for 300-plus drug arrests and confiscated 19 pounds of marijuana, more than 1,150 grams of methamphetamines, PCP and heroin. To date, the division has confiscated more than $871,000 in illicit currency used in drug deals.
The majority of that cash was found by Falco in a box truck last November. Johnson was called out to a traffic stop made by an Oklahoma Highway Patrolman along Interstate 40. After the dog signled for drugs, the truck was taken to OHP headquarters in Clinton, where the Clinton Fire Department opened the safe to find bags filled with $571,000 in cash.
The cash was used as evidence in what became a large, long-term case for the Oklahoma Drug Taskforce. Once the case is complete, OHP will receive 80 percent of this money and WPD will receive 10 percent of the 80 percent.
While the department could use this money to purchase more service dogs, Cox said it could be months, if not another year or more, before they receive the money, and it takes time to buy and train the animals. The department would like to take the extra work off Johnson and Falco as soon as possible.
In addition to this large find, Falco found a pipe and bags of methamphetamine his first shift.
In addition to narcotics, the service dogs are used to criminal apprehension, handler protection and building searches. Cox said neither Melee nor Falco have been employed to bite a subject, but they train for that possibility.
“We are very reserved with the use of our dogs at Weatherford because we don’t want to be case law (law established by outcome of case),” she said. “I don’t want to be case law with my dog. That is a last resort.”
The dogs are trained to grab the forearms and legs but “will grab whatever the person gives them.” Johnson said he believes the presence of the dogs makes subjects more cooperative because they don’t want to get bit.
While handler protection is part of their job, Cox said the feeling absolutely is mutual.
“They will do anything for you, and as a handler, you will do anything for them,” she said.