Aberdeen Police Department

Police Service Dog “Neko” 2015 report

Patrol2/20/2016

Our story:

2015 was an exciting time for the Aberdeen Police Department. There were many changes and

additions made that year that will help build our department to its highest potential. One of the

additions was a Narcotic detecting police canine. In late 2014, members of the local drug task force

petitioned to the Chief of Police about the acquisition and implementation of a police K9. In early 2015, I

continued a project that I had been working on for several years. I was very interested in having a police

service dog and knew the high use and potential it had in our community and department. The chief

approved me to submit a grant request for the purchase of a drug detecting canine. The grant was

requested through the South Dakota Attorney General Drug Control fund, a fund that is self-sustained

by seized assets from drug crimes within South Dakota.

The most difficult obstacle of any program is the procurement of funding to initiate. The largest

expense of this program is a specially equipped vehicle (approximately $26,000). We also required

additional equipment and a special K9 kennel. The total start-up cost of this project was approximately

$40,000. The vehicle is dedicated to the K9 handler due to the specialty of use and times of need. The

training, housing, and K9 are additional expenses. The Attorney General’s office allocated $17,000

dollars to the Aberdeen Police Department to be used for the program. Working with the Brown County

Sheriff’s Office, we were able to secure a temporary vehicle with the proper K9 cage to get the program

moving. With all the basic equipment needs sorted out and with the assistance of the South Dakota

Highway Patrol, a K9 was selected from a reputable vendor in Alabama at a cost of $6,500.

On April 10th, 2015 with the assistance of Lieutenant Scott Sheldon from the South Dakota Highway

Patrol, I went to Mitchell to pick up a 14 month-old male Belgian Malinois (Belgian Sheepdog). The dog

came to us with a passport, as he was hand-selected from the Netherlands and brought to the United

States specifically for drug detection. Once in Aberdeen, the dog purchase was announced on our

department Facebook page and we, as a department, sought help for a name. There were many

suggestions, but to stay true to his roots, I selected the name “Neko,” which in Dutch means “Victory of

the People”.

After a two week bonding period at my home, Neko and I began our 7 week narcotics training in Pierre

on April 27th. The training was hosted by the South Dakota Highway Patrol. The Highway Patrol

provides this training to other agencies free of charge, saving the department about $5000. The

training, called Polizeispuerhundpruefung (“PSP”) was developed in Europe and is only used in a small

fraction of the United States. PSP is real-life scenario based. K9 handlers and dogs are tested using real

life scenarios and train using many different obstacles and areas where they may be deployed while

working on the streets of their communities.

The basic principle behind narcotic training is that the dog is not interested in the drugs themselves, but

the odor. When sniffing for the drug odors he is not sniffing for a drug in his mind, but his “toy”. He

associates each drug odor as his toy and one of his prescribed indications is to sit when he smells his

“toy”. Neko was put to the test on everything from slick floors, steel stairs, dark rooms, tall grass, and of

course a wide variety of vehicles. South Dakota Police Service Dogs (K9s) are trained to detect 6 drug

odors: heroin, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA (ecstasy), and psilocybin (shrooms).

The training was slow going at first. Neko had no training and no obedience when he was brought to us.

He was very young when he was selected to be a drug detecting K9, as most dogs are typically 2 years of

age at that time. The only thing he knew was how to be a dog. Neko and I were exposed to a great

number of scenarios and situations a K9 team may experience while working the streets. There were

many frustrating moments. At one point, Neko hurt himself performing a scenario by breaking one of

his canine teeth. He was not deterred and continued to work as he was trained and never showed any

signs of slowing down. After many weeks of playing fetch came certification day. Neko and I both

passed and were officially recognized by the State of South Dakota as a certified canine team on June 12,

2015.

Our first deployment as a team came even before our first shift on the street. PSD (Police Service Dog)

Neko and I were called out on our day off. PSD Neko was deployed on a vehicle the drug task force

stopped. Neko alerted and indicated to a vehicle and approximately 4.3 grams of Methamphetamine

were found inside. Needless to say, both Neko and I were glad to get the first deployment over with and

come out of it with a win.

Since our first deployment, we have assisted nearly a dozen different agencies and businesses with drug

detection. I make it a goal to be at Central High School at least once a month to perform a K9 sniff of

lockers, vehicles, and/or classrooms. I make myself available to the middle schools if they wish to have

us on the school campus. As a member of the Brown County Sobriety Court Team, I make myself readily

available to assist both the sobriety court and drug court to help check and maintain sober/drug-free

housing for their participants. I am also very active with the DARE program. I will gladly bring PSD Neko

into a class for the children to get a look at a real police dog and remind them about the dangers of

drugs and to let them know Neko will readily sniff them out.

Maintenance training is required to keep Neko and me in top form and a yearly recertification is

required. I travel at least once a month to other parts of the state to train with other canine teams for a

day. The other teams assist with any issues we may be having. It is recommended to have 8 hours of

training every two weeks. Because I am the only dog handler for our agency, it is difficult to train by

myself. I often recruit another member of the police department to assist me with hiding training drugs

and giving Neko his toys. Neko’s toys range from cloth and rope to garden hose. What Neko really likes

is fire hose, but don’t tell the firefighters.

Yearly costs of a K9 program vary year to year depending on the equipment needs and health issues.

Typically, the yearly cost of the K9 program is about $2,500.

I would like to thank the Brown County Sheriff’s office and Brown County Commissioners for loaning the

police Department a vehicle to get our K9 program going. I would personally like to thank Runnings

Fleet and Farm and Coopers Animal Clinic for their much appreciated donations and assistance to our

program. I hope that we can continue our partnerships in the future to help keep the citizens of

Aberdeen safe by keeping drugs out of our community and schools.

Neko at OM Tiffany doing a DARE presentation. Oct. 2015

From June 12th to December 31st we had 60 deployments yielding 21 arrests. We seized $21,673 in cash,

and 6 vehicles as part of the South Dakota Asset Forfeiture.

Agencies that benefited from the use of police service dog Neko are: Aberdeen Police department,

Brown County Sheriff’s Office, South Dakota Highway Patrol, Aberdeen School District, 5th Circuit

Probation, Safe Harbor, DUI and Drug Court, and the Brown County (Tundra) Task Force.

Future goals and program needs:

Purchase and secure a new properly-equipped vehicle safely suitable for a K9

Obtain addition training aids, toys, and training locations (i.e. old houses, stockrooms, barns, vehicles,

etc.)

Continuing education and training

Continue to make an impact on drug trafficking and drug possession in our community

Request additional funding for a second police service dog (dual purpose: drug detection and

apprehension) for budget year 2017

I look forward to 2016 and the impact that Neko and I will have on drug issues in the City of Aberdeen. I

also look forward to continued and new sponsorships by local businesses. It has been my dream to have

a police dog and I will continue to make our team stronger and better. I will continue, in a partnered

effort, to locate and keep illegal drugs off of our city’s streets and out of our schools.

Sincerely,

Officer Tom Barstad #310K9 officer Aberdeen Police Department.

Neko and I 2-13-2016 after locating 8oz of Methamphetamine (street value approx. $45k), 2 ¾ lbs. of

marijuana (approx. value of $19k), 15 hits of LSD, and 10k in cash.

Neko in front of a 7 foot tall Marijuana plant found in Aberdeen.