Crime-fighting companions

ZoomBookmarkSharePrintListenTranslate

Amtrak Police Officer Christopher Best and his partner have worked together for a little more than a year now. The catch is that Best’s partner, Rip, is only 6 years old. Oh, and he has four legs and a tail.

Rip is approaching middle age, but he’s still got the joyful eyes of a young pup. With jet-black hair and a curious energy, the black Labrador retriever stood beside Best on Tuesday outside the historic 10-story building at the corner of 10th and Noble streets, awaiting their turn to go inside.

The pair, along with three other Amtrak officers and dogs, was participating in explosives detection training as part of a program at the Canine Detection Training Center at McClellan. The teams work on Amtrak trains in Washington, D.C., New York City and Baltimore.

Cliff Black, media spokesman for Amtrak, said federal stimulus money has enabled the company to supply canine detection teams on many random trains in the country, especially in Chicago, New York, California and the Pacific Northwest.

“Amtrak has a police force with sworn police officers empowered to enforce laws in the jurisdictions where they operate,” Black said.  “One of their many functions is to train with these canine teams and to have these teams assist in securing Amtrack property and its trains, and as the same time protecting passengers and employers.”

Rip and the other fuzzy pups—Giro, Oz, both German Shepards and Blitz, another black Lay—aren’t new to detecting explosives, but are participating in a six-week “refresher” course at the center, said Jeanne Brock, senior instructor and manager of the Detection Canine Development Program.

Brock said the relationship between the dogs and their handlers is crucial.  As such, the dogs live with the officers and their families.

“They’re a team.  Neither can do the whole job without the other,” she said.  “Working with their handler is their main joy in life.”

The dogs put in typical work days like their human counterparts.  They must receive plenty of rest to prepare them mentally for the work day, Brock said.

The building in downtown Anniston served as an ideal setting for training because of the multiple floors and furniture in the building, Brock said.  Other buildings in the area are used for the dogs’ training, including some at Jacksonville State University.

“They make for good training scenarios,” Brock said.  “We use various resources to prepare them for real-life settings.”

The dogs must be able to communicate with the officers when they have found explosive substances or devices.  Best said they are also trained to find suicide bombers in a large crowd.

Brock said the dogs are beloved by their partners.

“It would be hard to find more loved dogs than these,” she said.