UW-Whitewater PD swears in first K-9 officer
By Ryan Spoehr
Editor
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Police Department has a brand new officer on staff who enjoys investigating. However, this officer is one who is typically on all fours and will do his share of barking.
That officer, known as “Hawk,” is the department’s new K-9 officer, the first police dog in its history.
“I’m pretty excited about that,” UW-Whitewater Police Department Officer Kelsey Servi said. “It is definitely a step in a new direction for us.”
Servi is Hawk’s partner. Hawk lives with Servi.
“We’ve spent every second together since we first met, but I’m still spending time with him getting to know him and letting him get integrated into the department and all the different environments he’ll be exposed to.”
Hawk is an explosive detection dog.
“Everyone thinks he is a drug dog on campus, which is OK with me, I guess, but he really cannot detect any form of drugs or narcotics or anything like that,” Servi said. “The explosive (detection) is just another tool that we can just have available to our community now. So, for large-scale events and things like that, we can make sure (people) are safe and things like that. And, it’s more of a safety service we are looking to provide as opposed to enforcement.”
The swearing-in ceremony for Hawk took place on Jan. 31. However, he has worked with the department since Jan. 19.
Prior to then, he and Servi went through training in San Antonio, Texas.
Servi and Hawk trained together in San Antonio, Texas. He was found roaming the coast along Aransas Pass, Texas. Hawk was at a kill shelter before Hawk’s trainer in Texas rescued him.
The two trained together for about two-and-a-half weeks in the beginning of December.
“We’re still a pretty young team, so we are still learning a lot, still figuring each other out and all that stuff, but he is a good dog,” Servi said.
Hawk and Servi have been training together everyday since Servi brought Hawk to Wisconsin. The two have practiced and have tried to fine-tune his obedience and police skills. Hawk lives with Servi.
“He is fiercely loyal to me, so he will follow me wherever I go. If I leave him at the department and go do something, he’s usually driving everyone nuts like whining and barking the entire time.”
Servi said she sometimes receives emails from people on the second floor of Goodhue Hall, the building that houses the department, saying they can hear Hawk bark.
Hawk often has the urge to investigate everything in his site, Servi said, which is just a part of his working nature and wanting to do his job.
Whenever Servi works, so does Hawk.
“We do 10-hour shifts, which he doesn’t seem to mind. He gets pretty stir crazy on days we have off,” Servi said.
“He is into everything and constantly has to be busy. If he is not stimulated in some way, he’ll find some way to stay busy, whether that’s chewing something he shouldn’t or actually putting that into a good source like training and things like that. Part of my job is to keep him busy,” Servi said.
Servi said Hawk is a high-drive dog.
“It takes a lot for him to get tired. He constantly wants to play. He’ll run himself into the ground just to keep training or staying active.”
Hawk is a rescue dog, so it is unknown exactly how old he is. However, vets that have seen Hawk agree that he is between one and one-and-a-half years old.
“He’s really young, so he’s got some puppy in him. He’s got some puppy issues that we are working through, like with jumping. He wasn’t potty trained when I first got him, so we are working through that type of stuff. “
Explosive detection isn’t as common as drug detection, Servi said. Hawk has not gone out on any mutual aid calls, but the goal of the department is for Hawk to be available for those types of calls if those situations arise.
There won’t be a set number of departments he will be made available to.
“If someone calls, we’ll do anything we can to assist. That’s obviously what we are here for,” Servi said. “Also, I know there aren’t a lot of bomb dogs in our area, or in the state for that matter. It’s not the number of drug dogs that are around.”
This is Servi’s first time working with a police dog.
“It’s a learning process, not only for me, but our department as well, with the equipment we need and what it actually entails,” Servi said. “But, it’s rewarding.”
