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Success for K-9 Sam is Par for the Course
August 27, 2010
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Police officers surrounded a local golf course in Glendale after a gunman, still armed with a .22 caliber rifle, fled after shooting at two victims. The suspect was believed to be hiding somewhere within the golf course, which provided plenty of dark hiding spots to help him evade officers and a police helicopter. K-9 Sam responded to the scene and was about to start his search when the suspect returned to the scene of the crime and “gave up.” When the suspect surrendered, he was unarmed and uncooperative with investigating officers regarding the whereabouts of the outstanding rifle. Obviously, there is a substantial public hazard with having a rifle “stashed” somewhere in a public place that might be found by a child. With the attempt murder suspect in custody, the police changed their focus from finding the suspect to locating and safely seizing the weapon. However, searching a huge golf course for a relatively small item in the nighttime darkness seemed an impossible task.
Never underestimate the powerful nose of a Glendale K-9! Normally, our K-9s track “forward” and follow the suspect’s scent from the crime scene to the location of where the suspect is hiding. In this case, we used K-9 Sam to “back track” from the suspect to where he was hiding before turning himself in, with the hopes that we would recover the stashed rifle along the way. Within seconds of smelling the suspect, Sam’s nose was glued to the ground and off he went into the darkness of the night. Sam was pulling so hard that his handler, Officer Sholtis, decided to release his leash and allow Sam to work at his own pace. Sam tracked directly to a drainage channel that was on the east end of the golf course, over 500 yards away from our starting point. Sam began showing a lot of interest in the area, which is expressed through wagging his tail, whining, breathing heavily, and pacing back and forth (or bracketing an area). The slope led into a drainage channel, where there was a small stream of water approximately 4 inches deep. K-9 Sam led officers down the slope and alerted to an area in the drainage channel that pooled into deeper water. Officers shined their flashlights into the water and saw a large rifle completely submerged in the water! The officers safely recovered the weapon, which was identified by the victims as the weapon used in the attempted double murder. You think that was impressive? The total time that it took Sam to track over 500 yards and locate the rifle was less than five minutes! Imagine how many human officers and how many hours it would take to search an entire golf course at night for a hidden weapon. Thanks to K-9 Sam, this key piece of evidence was found in an efficient and safe manner. More importantly, the gun was recovered by officers instead of being found by a curious child.
Yudy, 'steering' us in the right direction
July 26, 2010
It was a hot summer night on July 13th, 2010 when Glendale Officers stopped a vehicle believed to be transporting narcotics. The officers searched the entire car, but came up empty handed. That's when they requested the assistance of their K-9 partner, Yudy. Yudy arrived on scene, and quickly went to work. She jumped into the car, and immediately put her sniffer to the test. Yudy hopped into the driver's seat, and looked as if she was getting ready to drive away in the car! She resisted the urge to drive away, and continued sniffing. She sniffed the top of the steering wheel, the sides of the steering wheel, and down to the bottom portion of the steering column. With a sure look on her face, Yudy came up, and let her handler know she had located the hidden drugs. Officers removed the entire plastic area underneath the steering column, and discovered a false compartment with a bag inside it. They opened the bag, and found several ounces of narcotics believed to be cocaine and heroin. Were it not for Yudy's nose, these drugs would not have been found, and would have continued to pose a threat to our community.
2010 Glendale K-9s in the Park
July 7, 2010
Images above are from Glendale K-9s in the Park 2009.
Date: Saturday, October 9th, 2010 11 am - 4 pm
Place: Verdugo Park, 1621 Canada Blvd, Glendale
Admission: FREE!
Parking: FREE parking available inside Verdugo Park or across the street in Municipal Lot #34.
LEARN MORE (PDF flyer)
View Photos from 2009 Glendale K-9s in the Park
Cruise Night 2010
July 7, 2010
K-9 handler Aaron Hamilton with his K-9 partner, Quwai, talking to a future K-9 officer about what it’s like working with K-9s
Come visit the Glendale Police Department’s K9 Unit at the 2010 Cruise Night, Saturday, July 17th. We will be set up near the intersection of Brand and Lexington. You will have the opportunity to take your photo with one of the Glendale K9s! Come by and meet the K9s, ask questions for the handlers, and check out some of the equipment that the K9 teams use on actual searches! There will also be official Glendale Police K9 T-shirts available to purchase. While you’re there, become an official Glendale Police K9 Club member. All proceeds directly benefit the K9 Unit, which is solely funded through donations. We look forward to seeing you there!
Pennsylvania Girl Travels Cross Country for Glendale K-9s!
June 7, 2010
Grace proudly exhibits her K-9 vest, comprised of patches that she collected from K-9 units throughout the country.
The Glendale K-9 Unit found it’s #1 fan, all the way across the country! Grace Bunduka, 12, loves police K-9s and wants to be a handler when she grows up. As part of a school project, Grace collected patches from K-9 units across the country to fill a vest that she will wear while giving her presentation to classmates. Grace’s request for a patch reached the West Coast after viewing the Glendale K-9 website. Grace collected over 25 patches from various K-9 units around the country, which she proudly displays on her vest. She is particularly fond of our Glendale K-9s, thus saving the special spot over her heart for our patch. In order to fulfill her dream of meeting our K-9s, Grace and her mother flew across country to meet Glendale’s finest four-legged officers! We commend Grace’s perseverance in collecting as many patches as she did and wish her luck on her upcoming school presentation. If it was up to us, she would definitely get an A+ for effort! Good for you, Grace! Keep up the great work!
CLICK HERE to read the Glendale Newspress article regarding this story.
K-9 Sam Locates Key Piece of Evidence
June 7, 2010
K-9 Sam alerts to possible key piece of evidence linked to a burglary suspect.
Officers checked the area for a suspicious male who attempted to gain entrance into several homes by checking door handles. When officers located the male, he immediately ran from them. The suspect ran through several backyards until he was finally captured by the pursuing officers. It is common for suspects to discard weapons and/or evidence while being chased by police. With this in mind, K-9 Sam was used to sniff out anything that may have been tossed by the suspect. Sam, as well as the other three Glendale K-9s, is trained to alert on evidence or any article that has fresh human odor on it. Therefore, Sam is capable of searching an area and detecting anything that was recently touched (or thrown) by a person. While searching the first backyard that the suspect ran through, Sam eagerly searched an area of tall grass. There were several other items scattered in the yard, but Sam directed his attention to an item that appeared to have been used as a pry tool. The metal item was bent at the tip with several scratch marks and paint transfer. Thanks to Sam, this potential key piece of evidence was collected by officers and brought to the crime lab for fingerprinting. Now, if only Sam can find my keys.
It Took a K-9 to Sniff Out a Crocodile Caper
June 7, 2010
Glendale officers responded to a possible commercial burglary in progress at a vacant building, formerly the Crocodile Café. Officers observed signs of forced entry and believed suspects were possibly still inside the building. K-9 Sam responded to the scene and quickly went to work. A team of officers, led by the keen nose of Sam, searched the building for the burglars. As Sam reached the top of the landing for the second floor, he immediately alerted to a closed door. Officers made their way past the door and followed Sam into a large room. Sam searched the room and took officers through another doorway that led to a smaller room. Sam anxiously barked at a closed door within that room, letting officers know that he found who he was looking for! After several minutes, two suspects who were hiding in a small closet on the other side of the door nervously came out into the awaiting handcuffs of patrol officers. Thanks to Sam’s impressive sense of smell, officers knew exactly where to find the hidden suspects and were able to safely take them into custody!
K-9 Sam Finds His Treasure in Another Man’s Trashcan
June 7, 2010
For several months, a female parolee who was wanted for a parole violation stayed one step ahead of Glendale officers. She cleverly stayed at different locations, which ultimately resulted in cops being led on a wild goose chase. That is, until K-9 Sam took action into his own paws! After officers searched yet another location for the female suspect, Sam was used to search the neighboring properties in hopes that the female was nearby. Sam led officers to the backyard of the house next door and alerted to a large city trashcan. Sam’s eager bark was enough to persuade even the most elusive crook to give-up! After several months of being “on the run” from police, the suspect was sent back to prison, thanks to the fantastic “crook catching” capability of Sam. That night, Sam found his “treasure” in another man’s “trash” can.
K-9 Quwai in Action!
June 7, 2010
Click on the photo above to see a larger version.
On 06-01-2010 at 1930 hrs. K-9 "Quwai" assisted officers with a brief narcotics investigation in the area of 320 W. Lomita. Although Quwai has many jobs on the street including detecting narcotics, locating evidence, protecting officers and apprehending those that choose to defy Law Enforcement, he also enjoys making new friends. On this day K-9 "Quwai" took a moment to visit some of the neighborhood kids in the photo that he is trained to protect while working the streets.
Narcotics Located by K-9 Quwai
April 21, 2010
On 04-19-2010 at approximately 1940 hours. GPD Officer Goodreau initiated a traffic stop in the area of Chevy Chase and Broadway. The vehicle was occupied by two males. Based upon Officer Goodreau's training and experience he initiated a narcotics investigation and requested a K-9 in an effort to locate possible evidence.
K-9 Quwai arrived on scene and immediately attempted to crawl under the suspect's car and gave a positive alert. Upon further inspection under the car a plastic bag containing needles, a spoon and a brown substance resembling Heroin was recovered. K-9 Quwai also gave a positive alert in the right front passenger area leading to the additional recovery of evidence.
Another great example of the teamwork between GPD Officers and K-9s leading to the arrest of a narcotics offender in the City of Glendale.