Highway Patrol – Week 4 – Part 2

Good morning Favorite Friday Fans,

How is your morning? It's a rainy morning here. Not any big storm, just a steady rain. I don't know if it's supposed to rain all day or not. We've had many sunny days, so I can't complain about a rainy one.

I've been doing more "finishing" things this week. I got my November and December short stories up and ready for pre-order. They won't be published until the 1st of November and the 1st of December. And yes, I added them both to Goodreads. (Just look for Heritage of Praise and Unto Him.)

I also made the final corrections for His Law Is Love though it won't be published quiet yet. ;) If you want to get a signed copy directly from me, let me know. If I have to mail it to you, it won't be more than $10. counting shipping. (I may be able to do it a little cheaper depending on what the tax is. I can let you know.)

Anyway, now I'm listening to the audios of Dylan's Story and Stephen. I'm hoping to have them both out before Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, I hope to add another Christmas Collection book to the list this year. This one is titled Christmas Quilts. It's probably nothing like you would think for this title. ;) And I'm about ready to start the work of compiling my monthly stories so they will be available as a collection in paperback, and as a collection in kindle.

I hope you are enjoying these reports from the MO State Highway Patrol Community Alliance. This next part I broke into 2 parts because it was over 2k words. I think you'll enjoy learning about Hugo.

Highway Patrol

Week 4 – Part 2

    When our break was over, Sgt. Lueckenhoff introduced us to our next instructor, Corporal Tim Barrett, a K-9 officer. Corporal Tim has been a law enforcement officer for 15 years. For the last 9 he has worked as a HP trooper. Before that he was a Carthage police officer. Hugo, a five-year-old male German shepherd is Corporal Tim’s partner. We quickly found out that Sgt. Lueckenhoff doesn’t like Hugo very well.
    There are 10 Highway Patrol K-9s state wide. All of them are male German shepherds. The reason they don’t use females is because the males have more stamina for some of the things they need to do. None of the dogs are neutered. The reason they only have German shepherds is because that’s all the Missouri HP has ever had, and they like them.
    All dogs are tried in five things.
    1. Obedience (sit, down, heal, etc.) – “Hugo and I are still working on that,” Corporal Tim admitted with a smile. Even though Hugo has been with Cpl. Tim for several years, he started out with another state trooper who then retired after 2-3 years. (I can’t remember who had Hugo longer.)
    2. Tracking –  Suspects–if the driver has run off into the woods or something like that. Elderly–if someone has wandered away from a nursing home. Children–especially children with special needs. The dogs have to be trained not to jump on the person when they find them. They don’t want Great-Grandma being knocked over by a full grown German shepherd. Cpl. Tim said when Hugo gets very close to the person he is tracking, he’ll sit down and bark. If it’s a fugitive, the guy will most likely start screaming, “Don’t bite me!” (That’s why commands like “bite” or “attack” are taught and given to the dogs in German.”)
    3. Handler Protection – Hugo is very protective of Cpl. Tim, and if anyone tried to take a swing at him, even in fun, Hugo would not be happy! “He’s also very protective of his car,” Cpl. Tim told us. “The very first time I left Hugo at home and went somewhere in the patrol car, Hugo had a fit. When I got out of court, my wife called me to see if I was coming home soon. I told her I was and asked if there was a problem. She said my dog was going crazy. I could hear him barking in the background. When I got back home, I discovered he’d overturned his dog house, flung himself against the sides of the kennel, and barked the entire time the car was gone.” There was a grin on Cpl. Tim’s face. “He still has a fit when I leave in the car and don’t take him with me.”
    4. Apprehension – This was mentioned earlier, but the dogs are trained to sit and not jump on someone they find unless they are giving the command to bite.
    5. Area Search – This includes evidence recovery as well as lost property. If a suspect is running away and tosses a gun, a bag of marijuana, or something else, they can use one of the dogs to search for it. Dogs don’t search for a specific odor when doing this tracking. They simply have to find something that smells different than the grass, rocks, sticks, and such. Something that has a human oder.
    Narcotics Detection – Hugo is certified in sniffing marijuana, cocaine, heroin, meth, and other forms of meth like ecstasy. If Cpl. Tim thinks there might be drugs in a car he’s stopped, he can use Hugo to do a search outside of the car. He will take Hugo around the entire car telling him to search (I’m not certain just what word is used). If Hugo smells any of the drugs, he’ll sit with his nose as close to it as he can get. Once Hugo has alerted on a vehicle, Cpl. Tim has the right to search it even if the driver won’t give permission. The dogs are never used to search people.
    “I don’t like to use Hugo for area searches,” Cpl. Tim admitted, “because Hugo doesn’t like to give things back.”
    Everyone chuckled.
    Dogs are habit driven. They are trained by doing things over and over and over. When searching a vehicle, Cpl. Tim insists that Hugo circle the entire vehicle and check everything. “If not, he’ll just go to the most common place or stop when he’s found something and not keep going.”
    Cpl. Tim said he spends a lot of time watching traffic. You know those state highway patrol vehicles sitting in the median when you’re driving down the highway? Guess what, they aren’t usually looking for speeders. They are looking for things that aren’t “normal.” What is “normal”? It takes time for an officer, police, or state trooper, to know what is normal in their area. Cpl. Tim said it took him about 18 months to get the feel of the area he patrols.
    He gave us some tips:
    • Know your geography – If you stop a car, and the driver says they were just coming back from California, ask how long they were there. “Oh, just a day.” Hmm, who drives from Missouri all the way out to California just for a day? Or, “I’m just coming back from my brother’s in Illinois. I haven’t seen him in six years.” “How long were you there?” “Oh, just a day.” Something doesn’t add up there.
    • Begin to know common reasons for things – Does their reason for travel match what things you see are telling you? One man said he was driving from Arizona to some other eastern state. It was winter, and while still warm in Missouri, Cpl. Tim, who keeps track of the weather in all parts of the country, knew a big snowstorm was supposed to hit the area this man was headed to. “Don’t you have a coat with you?”
    “No,” the man replied. “I’m not going to be there long enough to need one.”
    “It’s supposed to be cold there.”
    “I’ll be fine.” The man had on shorts and a t-shirt. Something just wasn’t adding up right, so Cpl. Tim searched the car. Inside the man’s suitcase were two more pairs of shorts, two t-shirts, and a pair of flip-flops. And marijuana.
    Is there a lack of luggage for someone who is supposedly traveling a long ways? Or too much? If there are any young children in the car, are there any toys or a diaper bag in sight?
    Does the overall look of the vehicle match the reason for travel? If someone says they are heading to a funeral but are driving a U-Haul, that could be a sign something is off.
    One time Cpl. Tim saw a really nice car pass on the highway. It was the kind you would probably get from a rental company. However, on the back of the car was a bumper sticker. Rental cars don’t have bumper stickers. The driver had a scruffy beard and looked like a homeless guy. When Cpl. Tim ran the plates, they came back stolen. After stopping it, he also discovered drugs in the car.

Have you ever seen a dog throw a fit?

Did you think the HP sitting in the median were looking for speeders?

 Do you want a copy of His Law Is Love?