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A state police K-9 unit apprehended Jacob W. Truman, 23, after a purse-snatching incident Nov. 3. Cpl. Jeff Oldham, state police spokesman, said at about 5:06 p.m., Truman allegedly approached a 76-year-old woman who was shopping at SuperFresh in Pelican Square. Oldham said a man came up behind her and grabbed her purse, which had been secured to the shopping cart.
“As the suspect was pulling at the purse, he jarred the cart, which caused the victim to fall against the shelves and to the floor,” said Oldham. “The suspect then fled with the purse.” Oldham said a SuperFresh employee heard the victim’s cry for help, saw the suspect run from the store and started chasing him. Another employee and a customer then joined in the chase, following the man to a field behind the store before losing him.
“The suspect was able to avoid apprehension initially,” said Oldham. “Several state police officers, the state police helicopter Trooper 2 and a K-9 unit searched the area.” While patrolling in the area of Oak Lane and Postal Lane in the Sandy Brae development, Cpl. Mark Little and his German shepherd Yukon met a small group of skateboarders. Little told them to approach him, said Oldham, and all but one did.
Truman, instead, started walking away. The skateboarders said they did not know the man who was walking away and he was not part of their group. Little, with Yukon still on his lead, caught up to Truman near Maple Lane. Little started asking Truman questions, and police said he behaved nervously. Little then called for affirmation of the SuperFresh suspect’s description, and when he learned the man in front of him met that description, he and Yukon continued approaching Truman.
“The suspect then took off running through a yard,” said Oldham. Little, following protocol, announced he would release the dog if Truman did not stop running. “He yelled to the guy a couple of times, but the suspect just kept on running,” said Oldham.
Cpl. Brian Anderson, commander of the state police K-9 training program, said K-9 handlers release their dogs only for felony apprehensions or if an officer’s safety is at stake. “They’re trained to bite and hold until the handler commands them to release,” said Anderson.
Yukon immediately caught Truman and held him until Little and other troopers arrived, but Truman was injured in the process. “It was a good apprehension,” said Anderson. Police took Truman to Beebe Medical Center, where he received stitches for puncture wounds on his legs. When a Troop 7 officer searched Truman during his arrest, the officer found Truman had several brass pipes typically used for smoking crack cocaine and a personal check belonging to the SuperFresh victim.
Police charged Truman of Harbeson with first-degree robbery, possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest. He was committed to Sussex Correctional Institution in default of $27,000 cash bail, pending further court action.
What’s a police dog’s job?
A Delaware State Police K-9 unit apprehended a man accused of a purse snatching Nov. 3. Cpl. Brian Anderson, commander of the K-9 training program at state police headquarters, said the apprehension was done well and followed police protocol.
Anderson said handlers may release their dogs for bite work only if the suspect is accused of a felony or if an officer’s safety is in jeopardy. During the Nov. 3 case, the suspect caused injury to an elderly woman when he snatched her purse in a grocery store, making it a felony.
Police dogs remain leashed until their handlers give several warnings to their suspects, said Anderson. State police handlers are required to announce they are members of a state police K-9 unit and will release their dogs unless the suspects stop. Anderson explained the handlers must attempt to give the suspects an opportunity to comply with police commands before releasing the dogs.
“The dogs are trained to bite and hold the suspect until the handler commands them to release,” said Anderson. He said dogs are not trained to strike any particular area on the body. “They go for whatever is closest to them.” Often, it’s a suspect’s legs.
Following a bite, the officer must fill out a detention-resistance report. That report, said Anderson, is used anytime force is involved in an arrest. Additionally, the trooper must file a Delaware animal-bite report to the Delaware Department of Public Health (DPH), as required by state law. The purpose of that, he said, is because DPH tracks all animal bites statewide. In addition to a description of the bite, the report includes is health information about the police dog.
There are 25 state police K-9 units. “All patrol dogs are cross-trained,” said Anderson, noting that in addition to normal patrol duties, the dogs learn either to detect incendiary devices or drugs. There are, however, two state police Labradors who are trained only for drug work.
Although there are some dogs in some law enforcement or military organizations that cross-train their dogs for bomb and drug detection, Delaware State police does not do so. The risk to the dogs and the handlers is too great, explained Anderson.
Since dogs are trained to alert in a particular manner to either the drug or the bomb, there is a risk of confusion or of the dog’s alert detonating a bomb.
Currently, there are 10 bomb-trained dogs, nine drug-trained dogs, four newly trained patrol dogs and two recently trained dogs who will begin additional training for bombs or drugs next spring.
The average price of the law enforcement dogs is between $4,500 and $5,000, said Anderson, and all come from Europe when they are between a year and two years old. Once new dogs arrive, said Anderson, they and their handlers spend three months at headquarters where they train for patrol, which includes bite work, handler protection, tracking and obedience.
After the dogs become comfortable in their new jobs and handlers learn their personalities, police determine whether they are better suited for extra training in ordnance or drug detection.
Ordnance training is the longest at 12 weeks. The drug coursework is only eight weeks. However, training is an ongoing process, said Anderson. Handlers must work and train with their dogs daily, and the teams go to headquarters for two days, every other month, for additional training. Bomb-trained or drug-trained dogs also must train an additional day each month.
Anderson said the dogs are not treated like many house pets because they need to know when they enter a home that they are on duty and working. “However, our dogs are probably better taken care of than 60 percent of the pets out there,” said Anderson.
In addition to their patrol and special duties, said Anderson, two members of the Delaware State Police K-9 Unit sit on the Division of Fish & Wildlife Dangerous Dog Control Panel. That board, he said, is used when there are animal bites that involve law enforcement. For example, he said, an owner might protest a state recommendation to euthanize a dog after it bit someone. The panel would review the case in much the same way as a trial.
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