There aren’t many who discover heroin on the first sniff, and moments later, crack a grin and roll on their belly for a scratch. But that’s Drako.
For the first time in more than 10 years, the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Department has welcomed it’s newest K-9 unit. Drako, a Belgian-Malinois German Shepherd, will assume his role as a K-9 officer and “drug dog” in April after completing nearly two years of intensive training. Hillsdale Deputy Logan Edmonsun will be his new handler.
“If you can find one life in the woods and save that life, that dog was well worth it,” Hillsdale County Sheriff Scott Hodshire said. “If you can take drugs off the street that one time, that dog was well worth it. We have extremely high hopes for Drako. I can imagine the drugs will be taken off the streets with him.”
Hodshire, who assumed his role as deputy sheriff last September, said a K-9 unit became his top priority when he stepped into office. Drug detection, apprehension of runaways and criminals, and finding missing persons are Drako’s top jobs, Hodshire said.
Because the department lacked a K-9, they had to retrieve dogs from northern Michigan, and sometimes Ohio and Indiana, on a case-by-case basis. Though the department reduced the retrieval time to 20 minutes, there were cases when it took nearly an hour and a half to acquire a K-9, Hodshire said.
Most importantly, Hodshire said there has been a drastic uptick in the drug usage, abuse, and overdoses in Hillsdale County.
“There’s been an influx of drugs in Hillsdale county and I made a promise to the taxpayers that I would have a K-9. I wanted to make sure that I fulfilled that obligation,” Hodshire said. “He’ll drive the drugs out of Hillsdale County.”
Drako will have the ability to detect all narcotics on vehicles, however, according to Michigan state laws—where marajuana is legal for medical and recreational use—Drako cannot be trained to detect marijuana, as his detection would result in an illegal search and seizure.
Through the Hillsdale County Community Foundation (HCCF), both the Kellogg Youth and General Endowment committees evenly split the $14,3000 cost for Drako. With more than 300 funds within the HCCF, Sharon Bisher, president and CEO, said joint efforts of committees optimizes the impact the foundation has on the community.
Immediately after Hodshire was sworn in, Scott LaRoe, owner and operator of Magnum Canines, contacted him immediately. Finding dogs and training them for police deputies is what he does, and the Czech Republic, Germany, and Mexico are only a handful of places where LaRoe has hand selected his dogs. International dogs are typically better trained and equipped for the demands of the police force, he said.
From the moment he found out Hillsdale wanted a dog, he picked one out — all the way from Mexico.
“I knew they needed a dog that was friendly, could be around people, but could still get the job done. He was perfect for a small, rural sheriff department,” LaRoe said.
Training began the day Drako arrived, and it hasn’t stopped since. He will assume his role as a K-9 officer in April after two more months of training, this time alongside his new handler, Logan Edmonsun, a deputy at the Sheriff’s department. Edmonsun found out last week.
“I’m extremely grateful that the Sheriff’s office has chosen me for the position,” Edmonsun said. “This is completely building a new unit for the Sheriff’s office so this is an opportunity to either make it or break it. I think with my motivation and my determination and willingness to work that this is going to help build on the image of the Sheriff’s office and I think the Hillsdale citizens are going to be extremely proud.”
With four years of law enforcement experience under his belt and an infectious attitude, Edmonson was the ideal choice for the job, said Hodshire. Plus, he moved back to Hillsdale last January after serving more than 400,000 people within the Lake County Sheriff Department in Florida. He’s driven, self-motivated, and is “all in” for whatever task is at hand, added LaRoe.
“When things go wrong, people call the cops,” said LaRoe. “Well, who does the sheriff department call when things go wrong? They call the K-9 in. This deputy has to be okay with being called out at 2 a.m., when they’re in bed on a rainy, stormy, nasty night. They’re the last person who is going to be able to mitigate whatever is going on for the sheriff’s department. And Edmonson is that person.”
In order for the pair to create an enduring bond, they must spend all of their time together, from the moment he goes on duty to the moment he pulls into his driveway after work. He’ll be like a third child, said Edmonsun, who is a husband and father of two kids.
“I’m going to spend more awake hours with this K-9 partner than my own kids and my family,” Edmonsun said. “I’ll be on call 24/7 all year long, anytime that we have a need for a canine, and as a handler, you’ve got to know what your K-9 is capable and not capable of doing. You have to be able to have trust in one another, one that I’m going to be there to protect the dog and two, that the dog will be able to protect myself, the other deputies and the citizens of the county.”
Training will include 120 hours of hands-on training which will include reproducing “real life scenarios,” from hiding drugs to traffic stops and tracking.
“People will see us around Hillsdale training,” said LaRoe. “I’ll teach him every inch of that dog.”
Drako is agile, hard-working, and fearless, according to LaRoe, and his senses are on par. A dog’s hearing, smell, and taste are tenfold better than the average human.
“A dog like Draco can actually do the work of 12 deputies that come to search in the house or look for a lost person. In the long run, they’ll actually save the department money. You don’t have to open up every drawer, every nook and cranny of the house, because he can do it with his nose. Now it’ll be two officers and a dog, as opposed to 12.”
