K-9

On Wednesday February 7, 2007 K-9 Deputy Razor was tragically killed in the Southern California area. Deputy Razor and his handler Deputy Ruben Ortiz were attending training, when Razor was separated from Deputy Ortiz for a short time. When Deputy Ortiz located Razor and called for him to return, Razor was struck by a vehicle. Razor was rushed to a local Emergency Animal Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Deputy Ruben Ortiz, who has been a Deputy Sheriff since 2001, had worked with his partner "Razor" since July 2006. Razor, a German Shepard, was born in the Czech Republic. Ruben and Razor were certified in area and building searches, tracking, officer protection, narcotics detection and obedience.

The Sheriff’s Department deploys the canine team to protect Deputies, apprehend criminals, and utilize the dog’s presence as a psychological deterrence for crime prevention. It has been proven that a single Deputy and a dog can arrest and contain several suspects effectively and in a safe manner. A canine’s superior sensory capabilities provide competent and extremely effective defense for a lone Deputy on patrol. Also, a dog trained to track can trail a man to his hiding place even when the trail is an hour or more old.

One of the goals of the canine unit is to increase community relations through demonstrations at schools, public events, etc. The canine demonstrations primarily focus on children programs, but we have found that the adults are just as intrigued with the training and abilities of a Sheriff’s canine. Quite often the public is misinformed as to the uses of the canine and how they are deployed. Through demonstrations, the canine team can educate the public on the fact that canines are not vicious, but actually well trained animals, under complete control, capable of completing a wide variety of tasks. As a part of the demonstration there is direct interaction with the canine and the public, which demonstrates the social side of the canine. These demonstrations are usually provided to schools, church groups, community groups, and at other public functions.

Assignment to the canine unit is voluntary, however, it requires a tremendous commitment of personal time and effort to properly maintain a patrol/narcotics canine, and the real compensation for that effort will be a well trained canine that may save a life one day.

We search . . . so that others may be safe." What would a dog say that if it could talk? The dog would probably say something about a desire to please its handler by obedience to commands, and "Let’s get on with it!" However, the quote describes the result of such obedience, which requires superior patience and dedication, and continuous training when not actually involved in law enforcement operations.

For information on the Canine Unit please contact Sgt. Phil West at (760)-932-7549.