By Barbara Augsdorfer, Editor for the Effingham Herald

“Snitch” retired last month, and his replacement is already on the job with the Rincon Police Department.

Meet “Demon”.

Demon is an all-black Dutch shepherd. “They’re given those names by the vendors, and it’s suggested to not change them because they’re going to have to learn another name and responses,” said Rincon Police Chief Jonathon Murrell.

“Same with the language,” Murrell added. Demon was imported from the Netherlands and he understands and responds to Dutch.

Demon is 19 months old, and is still training with his handler Sgt. Brad Hayes.

“He’s still considered a green dog,” Hayes said. “If we were to buy a finished dog, it would be three to four months. He was trained for 12 weeks.”

But of course, the training is on-going.

“We train every day. Every day,” Hayes said.  “I go on vacation for the first year and a half he's got to go with me because we got to still train. Everybody thinks being K-9 is all cool and stuff, but they don't realize the work that goes into it.”

Demon cost $19,000, which is part of the police department budget. That covers the cost of the dog from a reputable vendor and two weeks of on-site training in Alabama for Demon and Sgt. Hayes to learn to work together.

To help offset some of the costs, the department received $5,000 in donations from several local businesses, including: Metro Surgical, Rincon; Optim Orthopedic, Rincon; Georgia Institute for Plastic Surgery, Springfield; Cross Resurrection Autos LLC, Rincon; and CHGC Holdings LLC, Savannah.

Hayes used the $5,000 to build Demon’s indoor/outdoor kennel at his house, saving the city “at least $10,000,” he added. The indoor part of the kennel is air conditioned, and is also segregated from Snitch. “They never see each other because Demon is a working dog,” Hayes said.

In addition to these local businesses, Chief Murrell wanted to extend his appreciation to Dr. Michael Bailey and the staff at Effingham Animal Hospital in Rincon. “They provide all vet services for us free of charge,” Murrell said. Another Rincon PD K-9 recently had a cancerous tumor removed. “And he did that surgery free of charge, too.” Effingham Animal Hospital provides Demon’s food at a discount.

Demon is trained and used only for tracking narcotics and subject apprehension. He is not used to find missing persons. “An apprehension dog is trained to bite and take down," Hayes added.

According to www.policeforum.org, the use of the K-9 officer is one option in apprehending a hiding subject, and department policies must be clear. Department policy must include at least one audible verbal warning to the subject before the K-9 is deployed – and if the subject is believed to speak a language other than English, the warning must be spoken in that language; and the subject should be given time to surrender. The policy must also consider other options not involving the K-9.

When it comes to finding a missing person, Hayes explained, “Georgia Department of Correction has bloodhounds that we use. Statesboro PD has a bloodhound. They also have a non-apprehension tracking dog that we use. It's best not to use an apprehension dog for location of elderly and missing children.”

How a dog becomes a police dog is not easy.

“So generally what happens is vendors in the states do the shopping around the foreign countries for the dog. And they get them as puppies and work with them and get them to the point of training, basically,” Murrell explained. “And police agencies reach out to these trusted and vetted vendors and purchase the dogs from them.”

“By the time a vendor gets a one-year-old dog to the States, he's got $10,000 invested (in the dog),” Hayes added. “The vendor that the (Rincon) PD goes to washes out probably 40% of (the dogs) that he brings over. And he has to eat that cost.”

Hayes added that the vendors are known by breeders in Europe and can request specific dogs for police work. Vendors know what to look for.

Hayes also knows what to look for in his K-9. “You’re looking for what motivates them to work. How long will they hunt for something? I have a series of tests I run the dog through before we start training.”

Hayes picked out Demon even before he started training. In addition to tracking and apprehension, Hayes wanted a dog that would work with the team aspect. “In a small department like this, if I open up his kennel from the dog trailer and he tries to eat my face off, that's not the dog for this department.” He wanted to make sure Demon would work with other officers.

Demon passed Hayes’ sociability test.

He added that, if needed, Demon could work with a SWAT team. “You could pretty much point him in the direction he needs to go, and that’s where he’ll go without biting everyone around him.”

Demon was introduced to the Rincon community at the April 24 city council meeting.