ShawneeDispatch.com

There are certain advantages to having a Belgian Malinois for a police partner.

And perhaps none are so fear-inducing than the one highlighted on a bright yellow sign tacked above Officer Mike Powell’s desk at the Shawnee Police Department.

I can make it to the fence in 2.8 seconds.

CAN YOU?

Submitted photo

After more than 25 years as a K-9 officer for the Shawnee Police Department, Officer Mike Powell will retire on March 25. Powell's most recent canine partner, an 8-year-old Belgian Malinois named Bosco, who will retire with him and become his pet.

In more than 25 years as a K-9 officer, Powell has seen so-called tough criminals cower, cry and even lose control of bodily functions when his canine partners come at them.

But Powell — Shawnee’s first and, for most of his career, only K-9 officer — has learned to appreciate more than just the dogs’ intimidation factor. With his retirement set for Friday, the veteran handler has been passing on that knowledge to a new officer and canine that will round out what has grown into a two-man, two-dog policing unit.

Powell and his 8-year-old sidekick, Bosco, are retiring together.

While Powell will return to the department to fill a civilian role as a community service officer, Bosco gets to relax. He will become Powell’s pet, like the 10 or so other dogs he’s handled through the years.

Officer Matt Hashagen, a two-year canine handler, will be joined by Officer Shaun Arnold, on his first K-9 assignment. They will work with a dog named Jope and a new canine named Berry, both Belgian Malinois like Bosco.

Arnold, who started training March 1, praised Powell’s expertise in K-9 policing.

“I think he offers an immeasurable amount of knowledge in the field,” Arnold said.

Asked what he looked forward to in his new assignment, Arnold answered, “having pretty much the ultimate tool in the back seat of your car at all times.”

Powell joined the Shawnee Police Department in 1980 as a patrol officer. After spending two years as a field training officer, he became the department’s one-man K-9 unit in 1985.

The dogs are performing the same tasks they did then, but Shawnee has gotten busier.

Early on, about 60 percent of Powell’s calls were in Shawnee, with the others assisting surrounding communities, he said. Now, 85 percent of those calls are in Shawnee.

While being bitten by a police dog is what most criminals fear most, intimidation is not the dogs’ best policing trait, Powell said.

Their nose is.

Trained dogs can circle a car and smell drugs hidden inside, giving officers probable cause to search the car. If officers already have found drugs in the car, the dog can often turn up more in a hidden location.

Last week, Arnold and Jope demonstrated a drug-search training exercise behind the Shawnee Police Department.

The pair sidled down a row of parked vehicles, moving quickly until Jope reached the last van. The dog immediately sat down and hit the side of the van with his left paw, just above where Arnold had hidden a bag of marijuana in the tailpipe.

For his success, Jope was rewarded with boisterous ear-scratching and a piece of PVC pipe he likes to play with.

The dogs also sniff out weapons — Powell said he and his dogs have recovered guns used in three homicides — and humans.

On Bosco’s first search on his first night on the job, Kansas Highway Patrol troopers chased a stolen car into Merriam, where the driver wrecked and ran from the scene. Bosco found the suspect hiding in someone’s backyard, a good sign that Bosco was going to make a great police dog, Powell said.

Canines can also sense danger or a threatening person, often before the officer they’re with, Powell said. If a dog’s handler is good at understanding the animal, the officer can pick up on a tiny head turn or a slight change in behavior.

Powell has been called to bar fights where, when police arrive, everyone disperses and tries to act natural.

But more than once, Powell said, his dogs have led him straight to the instigators.

“The dogs are a better read of personality and behavior than we are,” Powell said. “They can read us better than we can read them.”

For the occasional cornered suspect who refuses to surrender or tries to fight despite warnings about what the dog is about to do, the yellow-sign threat comes into play.

“They get bit,” Powell said. “That’s their decision.”

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