Xander was training to sniff out survivors of natural disasters when, at the prompting of a new police chief, his career path took an unexpected twist.
On Friday, he became a proud member of the New Haven police force. Xander (pictured with Officer Lars Vallin) was one of three German Shepherds to graduate, along with fellow New Haven cops, as members of the city’s newly reborn canine unit. The event marked the first time patrol dogs have returned to the force since that unit was disbanded about 20 years ago.
Three other pairs of dogs and officers from Stratford and Southington joined in Friday’s graduation, too.
The dogs sat (more or less) with their human companions during a brief ceremony at police headquarters. New Milford police Sgt. William Scribner trained them through his private kennel. Scribner proclaimed the dogs “some of the nicest” he’s seen in 33 years in the business. New Haven Police Chief Frank Limon gave the three city officers plaques for completing their training.
New Haven’s three new canine members and their handlers are: Bitang (at left in photo with Officer Renee Forte), Xander (at center, with Officer Lars Vallin) and Boris (at right, with Officer Steven Silk). The dogs expressed themselves as mellow, adoring, and hyper.
Five of the six dogs arrived from the Czech Republic shortly before training began.
Xander was already in the USA. He’s owned by Officer Vallin, who took him in as a one-year-old adolescent. Xander, now five, spent most of the ceremony gazing up adoringly at Vallin.
The shepherd came to the career path on an unexpected route, Vallin said.
Xander was training to work for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) when former Chief James Lewis came to New Haven two years ago. Lewis announced he’d like to restart the city’s canine unit, which was disbanded by former police chief Nick Pastore.
Vallin saw a new opportunity for Xander.
Lewis spoke to Officer Dennis Bradshaw (pictured) from Monroe, who’s helped train at least 40 police dogs. Bradshaw helped Scribner train the new recruits. Bradshaw said he had his doubts about Xander at first: “He’s not really a tracking dog,” Bradshaw thought. But he decided to give him a chance.
Xander aced all the tests.
“He is probably one of the finest hard-surface tracking dogs I have ever seen,” Bradshaw said.
Xander is now what’s called a “full-service dog.” His patrol duties include tracking, evidence recovery, suspect apprehension, locating evidence, finding suspects hiding in buildings, as well as finding anyone who’s lost — a child, or an elderly or disabled person —which is kind of like the work he would have done at FEMA.
He’s also trained to find narcotics. So he gets to help arrest the bad guys and help save the innocent civilians.
“It’s a dog’s life, don’t you think?” Xander whispered to a reporter.
As New Haven canine training Officer Sam Reed (pictured) collected an award for his role in the eight-week training, a bandage was visible on his arm. Was the injury connected to the dogs? Reed answered yes.
“Boris,” he said. “Six stitches.”
Reed was quick to clarify that Boris had been doing his job, training to bite on command. Reed had been wearing a “hidden sleeve” made of jute, to protect his arm during training. But Boris managed to find the one open spot where the sleeve didn’t cover Reed’s arm.
Boris whined during much of the ceremony and seemed ready at any moment to practice his new skills. Reed called him “intense.”
“You need that type of intensity so he won’t quit” during long hours on duty, he said.
Meanwhile, Officer Renee Forte (pictured) was fulfilling a lifelong dream of being a canine cop, according to her parents, Shirley and Ed Forte from East Haven.
“She wanted to be a police officer ever since she was seven and saw TJ Hooker on TV,” Shirley Forte said, “and we always had German shepherds at home. She always said if there was a canine unit, she’d like to try for it.” She added that it might be inappropriate to call a male German shepherd “a sweetheart,” so she just said, “He has a wonderful personality.”
“A wonderful temperament,” was how Ed Forte put it, adding that he feels a little more comfortable having his daughter on the beat with such a devoted four-legged partner.
Congratulations to the officers and there new partners! God bless them and watch over them.
I just hope that the dogs will have some type of bullet proof vest also! Nice to see them back again after 20 years, and congrats to all the new rookies, be safe!!