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Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesVIPD Introduces Newest Canine on the Force

VIPD Introduces Newest Canine on the Force

Officer Jason Viveros and his new partner, Luca.

The newest member of the Virgin Islands Police Department met the public Thursday, and while he seems bright and positive and full of energy, he has another side: at a word he can turn into about 60 pounds of barking fury.

And for good measure, he was born in Denmark, though he came to St. Croix from rural Indiana.

Luca is the latest police dog to join the department’s K-9 unit, a Belgium Malinois. Luca cost about $15,000, and the purchase was paid for and arranged by Rich Clay, a St. Croix money and portfolio manager who said Thursday he was happy to be able to help.

"We’re dog lovers ourselves," Clay said, "and we were happy to have the opportunity to give something back to the community. It was a fantastic opportunity to work with the Police Department."

St. Croix Police Chief Christopher Howell said Luca replaces an older dog who was retired due to health reasons. He joins six other animals who make up the K-9 unit.

Clay and department dog trainer Jason Viveros flew up to a well-known training center in Indiana that has provided trained dogs for more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies.

Viveros spent several days narrowing the field before settling on Luca. Then the men and dog flew back to the islands on a private jet.

Clay said Luca even spent his first night in the territory at the Clay home. Luca is an extremely intelligent and affectionate dog, Clay said, but the financier was not fooled. He knew that on Viveros’ command, Luca would take him down.

Luca and three other members of the K-9 unit put on a display for the media Thursday. Anderson Poleon, another dog trainer for the Police Department, identified Luca as a Belgium Malinois, which looks similar to a German shepherd.

Shepherds are popular police dogs, he said, but typically as they age they develop hip trouble and by the time they turn 7 or 8 years old they have trouble jumping up and down into a police car, let alone doing all the jobs required of them.

The Belgium Malinois has a longer service life, Poleon said. The breed is smaller than German shepherds, but it’s solid, all muscle, intelligence and determination.

Luca was selected in part with regard to the consent agreement under which the V.I. Police Department is operating under scrutiny from the federal government. The report mentions the police dogs, and it’s a sore subject with Howell and the trainers, who say something got misinterpreted in the auditors’ report, giving the dogs a bad name.

"An independent report spoke very highly of the dogs," Howell said. "They felt they were in fact very intelligent."

However, there was one area in which the report said they could use more work – "stand off recall," in which a dog who has been sent off returns on an oral command. Howell said the report concluded the dogs were so smart they’d pick it up in a day of training. But that’s not how the monitor read the report.

"Somehow that got misinterpreted, something got lost in translation, and the independent monitors report said the dogs failed to follow directions," Howell said.

Thursday morning "stand off recall" was one of the first things the dogs demonstrated during the display at a basketball court at Patrick Sweeney Headquarters in Estate Golden Grove. In turn, each dog sat as its handler dropped the lead and walked away. When the trainer turned and called, the dogs trotted over immediately.

An even more vivid demonstration came when Viveros donned a protective sleeve and walked to the far end of the court, opposite Officer Roger Robert and his dog, Hektor.VIPD canine Hektor lunges at Officer Jason Viveros.

The two officers shouted back and forth, Viveros taking the role of a suspect who is not following police orders. As the two shouted, Hektor barked constantly.

That barking , according to Officer Anderson Poleon, is the dog’s way of saying, "I see you, you’ve got my attention."

When Viveros refused to respond, Robert warned loudly three times that he was going to release the dog. After the third warning he dropped the leash and Hektor took off like a bullet aimed straight at Viveros.

But before he’d gone halfway across the basketball court Robert sharply ordered him to return, and the dog stopped on a dime, wheeled about and raced back to his handler.

Then Viveros resumed a threatening stance and Robert ordered the dog on.

Hektor got hold of Viveros’s padded arm and wouldn’t let go.

The dogs are all trained with different specialties. One works with Officer Heraldo Charles as a drug sniffing dog and during the demonstration was sent to find a small bag of marijuana the police had hidden. Within minutes the dog had narrowed the search to a small area, then sat and peered intently at a spot until Charles rewarded him, then reached in and removed the contraband.

Another canine is a cadaver dog, and working with Officer Nakia Charles, he quickly was able to locate a small sample of human remains that has been donated to the department for just such work.

Then it was time for Luca to make his entry, and Viveros brought in his new partner. Charles played the role of the bad guy, with padded arm, and he and Viveros yelled back and forth until Viveros gave the same warning countdown, then released the dog.

Luca flew across the blacktop and slammed into Charles, grabbed the padded arm, and wouldn’t let go no matter what the officer did.Luca takes hold of Officer Heraldo Charles.

Afterwards, Poleon was asked if the dogs had any concept of "practice" or "pretend," and he shook his head vehemently.

"They’re always on. They have to be. When they’re out on the street with their master they don’t know what’s going to happen." Then he turned and said to Charles, "Did he hit you hard?"

"Ooooh, yeah," the officer responded.

The dogs and their masters train together at least once a week, Howell said, and the dog has to show proficiency in all its chores before it can go out on the street.

Howell said Luca and Viveros will practice several more weeks before they’re ready to go active, partly to acclimatize the dog to the tropical weather and partly so the two work together like a team.

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