Police Week kicks off with a K-9 demonstration by the Berlin Borough Police and Camden County Sheriff’s Office
During Police Week at Berlin Community School, the Berlin Borough Police Department and Camden County Sheriff’s Office were off to a “ruff” start.
The departments collaborated on a K-9 demonstration for children in second, third and fourth grades on Tuesday, May 16.
“[Police Week] shows the kids that we are approachable, we’re friendly [and] that we’re not the scary people they see on TV or that drive by in a patrol car,” Berlin Chief of Police Michael Miller said. “It gets [the officers] out. They get to interact with the kids, and they can see us as normal people. “
Berlin Borough has been doing Police Week for about 15 years, and “each year it gets better and we add more things,” Miller said. “It started as a couple of days and now it’s an entire week.”
The police put on a wide variety of demonstrations, such as the police cars, SWAT team, Camden County Office of Emergency Management, and a high rope angle rescue by the Delaware River Port Authority.
“[Police Week] demystifies what the police are and the equipment that we use and what we do,” said Miller, who took over as chief in September. “[One thing that has] been important to me since taking over is community outreach, getting the community involved, having our officers up in the school a lot; part of their normal patrol is coming in randomly through the school. Just walking through school, talking to kids, checking the doors, making sure everybody is safe. That was important to Council when they were selecting the chief, so it’s important to me as well.”
The Berlin Borough Police Department is in the process of training a police dog, Radko, who is from the Czech Republic. He is 1 year old and will do patrol and drug work once he finishes his training. He is doing a 15-week accelerated course.
According to Mayor James Bilella, the accelerated course frees up resources and prevents overtime and the loss of an officer while he is training.
Radko should be finished with his training and ready to get to work by mid-July.
The Sheriff’s Department had two dogs and their handler, K-9 Officer Michael Rauscher, putting on the demonstrations. K-9 Axyl is a 9.5-year-old European German Shepherd imported from Slovakia, who has been working eight years and was trained at NJ State Police K-9 Academy. He is trained in patrol and cross-trained in explosives. K-9 Reckie is a 3-year-old Belgian Malinois who is cross-trained in patrol and narcotics. Axyl demonstrated his ability to listen to commands such as heel, sit and stay as well as his bomb-sniffing skills. Reckie demonstrated his ability to chase down and tackle criminals, protect his handler, pull criminals out of cars, and sniff out drugs.
Raucher has been working with Axyl, one of the longest-serving dogs at the Sheriff’s Department, for eight years. His training was funded by Homeland Security, so he is also part of a State Police bomb detecting dog task force, which means that in addition to covering all of Camden County, he and Axyl cover major events around the state. They would respond to events such as the Super Bowl, Miss America Pageant or protecting important dignitaries who come to New Jersey, such as the president.
According to Raucher, the Sheriff’s Department has four dogs that are funded through Homeland Security like Axyl, so they are no cost to the taxpayers. They have a total of eight K-9s — four are cross-trained for explosive detection and four are cross-trained for narcotics — and five handlers.
It’s not all work for the K-9s, though. When the dogs are home, they are just pets.
“We don’t do any training at home,” Raucher said. “When they are off duty, they are off duty.”
Separating work and off time helps the dogs learn the difference between when it’s OK to bite, a major component of their training, and when it is not OK, such as when they are around kids.
Police Week and other training events also help the dogs learn when they are on duty.
“The dogs love [police week]. Their work is based on play, so we take them out here and they know they’re playing. As soon as I put my uniform on, they know. They say we’re OK we’re going to work, which means play to them,” Raucher said.
