Not your average dog

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

By Kelly Foreman - Register News Writer - The Richmond Register

New K9 team joins Richmond PD - KY.

RICHMOND — Slobber flew from Bari’s jowls as he raced through the warm grass Friday and sunk his teeth into his favorite toy.

A drool-soaked tennis ball.

His 80 pounds of fur and muscle slid into his handler just long enough to get to his paws again and chase another ball across Irvine McDowell Park.

“That’s what he works for,” said Richmond Police K-9 Handler Kurtis Heatherton. “That’s his paycheck.”

But don’t let the playful demeanor fool you, RPD K-9 Bari’s mission to protect and serve is not something he takes lightly.

The year-and-10-month-old red-sable German Shepherd joined the Richmond department full-time along with his handler, Heatherton, in August. In less than two months of service, Bari has conducted more than a dozen “sniff-out’s,” of which he has found drugs and illegal contraband nine or 10 times, Heatherton said.

“He gets a lot of work,” he said. “(Bari) does a great job.”

Heatherton, 28, of Beaver Creek, Ohio, joined RPD after serving the United States Air Force Security Police and the Mount Sterling Police Department. Heatherton said he became interested in working with K-9’s during his time in the Air Force.

“I’ve always had a love for dogs and I love police work,” he said. “What’s better than to be able to do both at the same time? So far it’s been very rewarding.”

Bari is from Belaruse, Russia, and was purchased from Mid-Michigan Kennels Inc. in May and began training with Heatherton in July. Two days after the pair’s Aug. 12 graduation, Bari got his chance to search for an alleged car theft fleeing from Kentucky State Police.

“I didn’t expect to start that soon,” Heatherton said.

Bari didn’t catch the bad guy that day, but his dual-purpose police service training is an invaluable tool to the department.

“I can’t imagine now what it would be like not to have one,” said RPD Public Affairs Officer Willard Reardon.

In addition to using his snout to detect drugs, Bari is trained to track wanted suspects as well as missing persons. He can conduct area searches for evidence and article searches.

“Anything that can hold human odor, he can find,” Heatherton said.

Bari is also trained to protect his handler from harm and will apprehend fleeing subjects.

“He’s able to find what any of us aren’t able to find,” Heatherton said. “Having a police dog is probably one of the most valuable resources any department can have.”

Reardon said the department has had a K-9 unit for 10-15 years. Heatherton and Bari serve alongside Senior Patrolman Travis Bowles and his black and tan German Shepherd, Rexo.

“Over the years they have confiscated a large amount of drugs that have been taken off the street,” Reardon said. “They give us another tool to use in drug investigations.”

In addition to being an asset in drug confiscation, Reardon said the dogs are also an asset to the department’s budget. Monies derived from drug forfeiture money helps to purchase necessary items at little or no cost to the tax payers.

“We just bought backup weapons for every officer (with drug forfeiture money),” Reardon said.

Bari himself was purchased from drug forfeiture money, Heatherton said, for $8,500.

“Most police dogs pay for themselves throughout their career and end up making the department money,” Heatherton said.

Though Bari is an aggressive alerter, he is trained to be social as long as he doesn’t feel there is any threat to his handler.

“It’s a new trend now to have social dogs that can still do their job,” Heatherton said. “It’s important to have them be able to be social with the community. That way he can not only catch bad guys, but he can help find missing children and Alzheimer’s patients who have walked away from home.”

Heatherton and Bari have also worked with children teaching them about dog safety. Bari has not had any “street bites,” Heatherton said, where he has bitten innocent people. Heatherton said anytime citizens see Bari out in the city, it’s important for people to ask Heatherton to approach the dog first and allow Bari to see that they are not a threat before petting him.

Bari lives at home with Heatherton and his other two dogs. Each day as Heatherton dons his uniform, he said Bari gets excited and is ready to work. Heatherton said taking care of Bari is just like having a child. The two even celebrate their birthdays together, which are on the same day in December.

“He takes care of me and I take care of him,” Heatherton said. “I’ve always got somebody out there watching my back. My wife’s happy to know that.”