Neighborhood News
COMPILED BY LIZ GOFF

K-9 Cops Wow Precinct Crowd

All eyes were on a pair of New York City Police Department Emergency Service cops at a recent meeting of the 111th Precinct Community Council.

Area residents questioned Police Officer Robert Dolan and listened to him speak about his daily grind- the intricacies involved in policing the streets of Queens. But it was Dolan's partner who stole the show, nudging his way into the crowd for a pat on the head or a scratch behind the ears.

Dolan and his partner, "Cage", are members of the NYPD Emergency Service K- 9 Team with headquarters at Fort Totten.

Cage, a five-year-old German Shepherd, is one of a team of dogs who travel throughout Queens each day- riding the subways, sniffing out narcotics, assisting bomb squad cops and tackling dozens of other dangerous, sensitive tasks.

Dolan said there are currently 50 K-9 officers assigned to the unit at Fort Totten, most of whom are partnered with German Shepherds. The dogs work for approximately eight or nine years before they "put in their papers" and retire, Dolan said. Once they've turned in their vests and K-9 shields, the dogs' partners are given the opportunity to adopt them- as Dolan has done with his former partner.

It's difficult to make the dogs understand they're retired," Dolan said. "The older dog tries each day to go to work with us."

Dolan said he and Cage are routinely assigned each day to a major transportation hub, where they wait for a call that requires their special skills. "Once the call comes in we're off," Dolan said. "The dogs love it. They live for it."

Dolan said Cage has seen a lot of routine patrol duty. But he is fully trained to pick up a scent and track down a suspect- and to "chomp down" on a suspect so the suspect can't get away before human backup arrives at the scene.

Dolan said K-9 cops develop a special bond with their furry partners. "You work with them every day," he said. "Sometimes you're with them more than you're with your family, so you have this special relationship."

If a K-9 dog is injured or becomes sick, his partner is assigned to desk duty until the dog is fully recovered, Dolan said. If a dog is too ill or injured to return to the job, he is retired and his partner is given the opportunity to choose a new dog, "pick of the litter", Dolan said.

Most officers are partnered with male dogs because females tend to be more nurturing, and they experience difficulty in leaving their handler to chase down a suspect, Dolan said.

"But we do have a new female on the team," he said. "She's a bloodhound and she's really good at sniffing-out perps."