By Cori Smelker
Contributing Writer

Anyone trying to run down, or away from, Windcrest’s newest police officer addition might be in for a big surprise. Rocky is in peak condition and can outrun pretty much anything on two feet, mostly because anyone with two feet will be outnumbered by his four!

Rocky, an 18-month-old Belgian Malinois, and his partner, Officer Adam Lee, went through their paces Sept. 15 during a demonstration of what they have learned since they completed a six-week training course and since Rocky joined Windcrest Police Department.

The two have formed such a close bond since they were first paired that Lee does not even have to talk for Rocky to understand him; body language says it all.

Windcrest Police Chief Lori Harris is particularly pleased with the twosome.

“When Officer Lee first came to us with the idea of adding a K-9 unit to the police department, he did it with the knowledge that he might not even be the officer selected,” Harris said. “It didn’t matter to him, he saw the value of having a K-9 in the department.”

If there had been any doubts in any other officer’s mind, those doubts must have been long assuaged. “Since Rocky joined the department Sept. 4, he has already performed 10 vehicle searches and found marijuana in two of those vehicles. He also helped conduct a building search and the other officers were very pleased with the speed in which Rocky was able to clear the rooms,” the chief said.

Rocky has been trained, among other tasks, to sniff out drugs. “He then lies down next to those drugs,” Lee said.

To demonstrate his abilities, Lee laid down three backpacks and Rocky sniffed each in turn and immediately lay next to the third one. He also found drugs that had been planted in a car, even though the drugs were stuffed in a backpack under the vehicle’s back seat.

Another advantage of Rocky’s presence is his ability to disperse people. “Once people see us on patrol they just melt away,” laughed Lee. “Rocky is a dual-purpose dog. That means he is trained as a patrol dog as well as a drug-sniffing dog.”

Lee said he expects Rocky can be an active member of the Police Department for about 10 years.

PetSmart very generously provides Rocky’s food and a separate organization donated a protective vest.

“We are very lucky to have generous sponsors,” Lee said, “but then Windcrest is very lucky to have Rocky as a valuable member of our Police Department.”