There's one thing that hasn't changed in the 50 years that the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) has had a Canine Unit. You'll hear current members on their 200^th catch say it to green handlers with their first barely-trained pup. Clark Wagner, a PCSO K-9 handler in the 1990s and K-9 sergeant from 2005-2013 says it's the main piece of wisdom he'd pass down to current handlers. Joan Haaf, who became the first woman on the PCSO K-9 team in 1982 and is still working a law enforcement explosives detection dog today, echoes the advice. Policies, training methods, and personnel have changed a lot in the last five decades, but one thing remains the same: trust your dog.

It's a trust that goes both ways, a bond between human and animal that allows two creatures who don't share a language to somehow communicate and perform the complex tasks that keep our community safer: apprehension of suspects, article searches, and explosives or narcotics detection. For the last 50 years our handlers have been refining the training techniques and working relationships with their canine partners.

Today, the Canine Unit has a dedicated training facility, and though with 16 dogs they've almost outgrown it, it is a far cry from the single-wide trailer behind the old Sheriff's Administration Building they used to have, or the makeshift facility that once stood on the jail grounds. We used to send our K-9 teams to the St. Petersburg Police Department for training, but now PCSO runs the K-9 training program for law enforcement agencies around Pinellas.   

The dogs themselves are different too. In the early years they were full German shepherds. Now, most of PCSO's apprehension dogs are a cross of shepherds and Belgian Malinois, which gives the best mix of drive, intelligence, obedience, agility, and health. When PCSO gets a new dog today they usually have a good idea what they're getting, but that wasn't always the case. “Up until 1985 we had been using donated dogs,” Wagner said. “People would call and tell us they had a dog that was too much for them, but they thought he would be a great police dog. We'd evaluate a lot of dogs, but only a few were taken and even fewer made it past vet screening or through training.” 

Haaf's first dog, Bones, was donated. “He’d been a stray who walked up to someone’s house, no one knew how old he was or what his background was.” He had great drive and excelled as an apprehension dog, but due to unknown genetic health problems he died of a heart attack midway through his career. Today, dogs come from carefully selected European bloodlines, bred for both high drive and good health. The price may be higher – our apprehension dogs cost around $12,500 – but they come with guarantees and a return and replacement policy. Wagner's dog Onyx was one of the first purchased from European working lines of dogs. “PCSO did use donated dogs a couple of times after that, during lean budget years,” Wagner said. “But overall, the purchased dogs were probably the best change ever made in the Canine Unit.”

Deputy Tony LoRusso has been in the unit for 20 of those 50 years and has seen a lot of changes in his time here. For him, the most significant change is in the training methods. Early trainers used compulsion, forcing their dogs to obey. “We called it yank-and-crank, just make the dog do it.” To teach a dog to sit, a handler would force his hindquarters down. When the dog was rewarded with a toy, the handler would then use the choke collar to force him to release it. When LoRusso joined the unit, they were just starting to dabble in using food-based rewards and positive reinforcement. Instead of forcing a dog to do a behavior, they wait until he does it on his own and then immediately reward him for it. Later, verbal praise is paired with the food reward until eventually only verbal praise is needed. 

“This is not knocking the old methods,” LoRusso said. “The old methods worked. My first dog was a great dog, trained under more compulsive methods. But this also works, and there is less maintenance. With positive reinforcement there are fewer mistakes for newer handlers – a mistake is only that you give him food at the wrong time – so there’s less stress on the dog and the behaviors are more stable. It creates a dog that wants to do something instead of just fearing the punishment.” Today's dogs live for the excited “Yes!” from their handler. 

PCSO's first dogs had a single purpose – tracking and apprehending suspects. Haaf said that in her day, a K-9's only other skill was sniffing out cannabis – which, to be fair, most humans can do too. Today's dogs further their education: once they get the hang of apprehension, they pick up an additional skill, training to detect either narcotics or explosives. Over the years we've had a few cadaver dogs who could locate dead bodies. In the future we might have dedicated narcotics dogs, or ones trained to sniff out firearms or electronics. The unit recently expanded to include two bloodhounds who can track much older scents over longer distances, but don't apprehend suspects. The unit has always been evolving and growing over its 50-year history.

The structure of the unit has changed over the last 50 years too. Between 1989 and 2008 the K-9 sergeant didn't have a dog of his own, but when a handler took early retirement and left behind a fully trained explosives dog, Wagner saw a perfect opportunity for change. “I was able to convince my chain of command that it was best to reassign Egon to me. I worked with Egon until we both retired in 2013.” Since then, the unit sergeant has worked his own dog. “While it's quite a chore to keep up with the supervisory duties and the care and training of the K-9, I think it's the best way to keep in touch with the needs of the handlers.”

A deputy and dog working together may seem almost invincible, but when the K-9 team is tracking, they’re uniquely vulnerable to ambush – as happened to Corporal Matt Aitken and his partner Taco. A handler needs to understand their dog, be attuned to every cue they give, and know that when things go bad their partner is going to have their back. When Corporal Aitken was shot, Taco knew just what to do, and contributed to saving his handler’s life. The bond between a handler and their K-9 is a special one, part working relationship, part deep friendship based on mutual respect, understanding, and above all, trust. Whatever innovations may come in the next 50 years, that part will remain the same.

What’s your favorite holiday memory from when you were a kid? Is it drinking hot chocolate while you decorate and sing? Is it feasting with family? Or is it waking up impossibly early and sneaking out to see what might be waiting for you under the tree? Whatever your traditions, the holiday season is a time for children to build happy memories and have a feeling of safety, security, and love. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) Christmas Sharing Project wants to make sure that kids in need feel the magic of the season. Every year we join the community in raising money at Ride and Run with the Stars, the largest law enforcement-sponsored fundraiser in the county. This year we raised more than $100,000, which goes toward helping some 260 families and almost 700 children. 

“Every kid deserves a good Christmas,” said Corporal Jacquelyn Kaplan, who has been participating in the Christmas Sharing Project for three years. “You want to give them what you had as a child. You want everybody to feel that warmth and that love.”

Members from all over PCSO gathered at a local Walmart, armed with shopping lists. This is Corporal Crystal Ankrum’s third time shipping for the kids. “Shopping day is one of my favorite things,” she said. “It’s a really good opportunity to give something back. It’s humbling sometimes. You’ll see the list of the things the kids want or need, and some of them are as simple as I want new socks and a pair of shoes. To be able to get them both things they want and things they need is amazing.” 

Shoppers get a budget for each child, determined by their age. One seven-year-old hoped for a tablet, books, and some sporting goods. An older child wanted headphones and clothes. Some requests were open to interpretation – shoppers thought a teen who requested “something electric to ride on” might enjoy a hoverboard. A request for a “playstation” on a nine-month-old’s list looked questionable until they read the footnote that clarified, “a little station for babies to play and learn.” That baby girl got a musical lion walker toy that had fun sounds, engaging buttons, and would help when she learned to walk.

Public Relations Specialist Annie Schneider participated in the shopping day for the first time this year. “We had a baby in one family and a teen in another family who both needed some clothes. It was poignant to find shoes for this baby who would soon be learning to walk and exploring the world for herself, and also to select a polo shirt for the 16-year-old who would soon enter the world as a young adult, dressing up for school or applying for a job.”

Pinellas PAL Executive Director Randi Meyer loved watching PCSO members shop. “This is super exciting. Everybody is in a very cheerful mood, happy and smiling. It’s fun to see the deputies shopping, picking out toys and fun little frilly outfits. This is a beautiful event.” Families selected for the Christmas Charing Project are facing economic hardship. Some may have been victims of crime. They are chosen by PCSO members such as Community Policing Deputies or Victim Advocates, or by Pinellas PAL. “We have our own list of kids who are vetted through Pinellas PAL,” Meyer said. “We’re very appreciative of the funds from the Christmas Sharing Project to help them. We try to serve as many kids as we can, but we don’t have the resources that the sheriff’s office does.”

Some of the requests are heartbreaking. “One child put toothpaste on their wish list,” Meyer said. “Some of these kids are asking Santa for basic needs and we’re able to give them that and so much more because of the fundraising efforts the sheriff’s office coordinates.”

Sergeant Eddie Hillmon has been participating in the shopping day for 14 years. “Every year that I’ve been employed at the sheriff’s office!” What keeps him coming back year after year? “It’s such a great pleasure to be able to provide the kids with a perfect Christmas. We’re making dreams come true.”