By Zach Winslett

Staff Writer

The newest officer at the Cullman Police Department has certain unique traits one wouldn’t expect to find in his or her typical employee.

For one, he speaks Dutch. For another, he’s only about 2 years old.

Lastly, Recon — the new officer — is a Belgian Malinois, and a police dog trained for narcotic searches, criminal apprehension and tracking.

The four-legged crime fighter was recently acquired by the CPD as a replacement for Suki, the most recent K-9 unit to retire.

The City of Cullman allocated the funds to the department in the 2013-2014 fiscal year’s budget.

“We appreciate the mayor and council for their willingness to fund the program,” Assistant Chief of Police Craig Green said.

Officer Jeff Lawson has been tapped as the new handler.

“I appreciate Officer Jeff Lawson’s willingness to take on additional responsibility with our department,” Green said. “Jeff has the ability to carry our canine program to a new level. He has a very strong work ethic, and he is dedicated to the program.”

Speaking of dedication, Lawson spent eight weeks training with Recon in order to be equipped to handle the police dog.

“I knew nothing about canines when I started,” Lawson said. “I knew very little about the process at all.”

Because of that training, Lawson and Recon communicate on a different wavelength.

“I had to learn all the commands in Dutch — some in German,” he said.

According to Lawson, Recon has been trained to be refined and controlled.

“We have to put a lot of control on the dog,” he said. “He’s calm until we will him to be something else.”

That degree of self-control, however, does not keep the police pup from being more than capable of his long list of duties.

“He’s trained to detain individuals,” Lawson said. “We’ve imprinted odors for marijuana, heroine, meth and cocaine as well. He’ll sit or lay down when he detects those narcotics.”

Alongside those duties, Recon is also trained to attack on command.

Lawson said that Recon’s primary duties would be aiding in traffic stops and warrant searches.

“For him to be used during criminal apprehension, it has to be a felony,” he said. “He’s mostly for traffic stops and warrants. I think you can see the benefits of such a tool. When there’s people we can’t search, the State of Alabama and the federal government allow us to walk the dog around the car as a free search. We don’t have to invade your constitutional rights, but, if the dog alerts on a vehicle, we have the probable cause to search because our canine is trained in odors.”

The canine will also respond to incidents outside the city limits.

Recon is one of two police dogs at the CPD, and one of six in the entire county. The Cullman County Sheriff’s Office has four dogs, according to Lawson, that all trained for narcotics solely.

“Recon is one of two patrol dogs in all of Cullman County,” Lawson said. “He will work with the sheriff’s office whenever they may need him.”

Lawson named the dog after his time in the U.S. Marine Corps.

“I was in a recon division. It’s short for reconnaissance. That’s what he’s good for.”

Zach Winslett can be contacted at zwinslett@cullmantimes.com or (256) 734-2131, ext. 137.