Deko, a 2½-year-old Polish German Shepard by way of Indiana has recently joined the Raymond Police Department as their Patrol K-9.
With donations provided by Charter Construction and BMF Washington, the acquisition of Deko was made possible. Raymond Police Officer, Rob Verboomen, will host Deko serve as his partner and work with the K-9. The new partners just recently returned from the Vohne Liche Kennels of Denver, Indiana, and have been making the rounds introducing the new K-9 to the city of Raymond.
At the last Raymond City Council meeting, Raymond Police Chief Chuck Spoor brought in the new crime fighters to meet the city council. The duo was warmly welcomed by the city council as well as by members of the public who were in attendance that night.
Deko will live with Officer Verboomen who has children and has advised that Deko understands when it is time to play and when it is time to work.
"He will be good with the schools. I have young kids at home and he has already made a new family with us," said Officer Verboomen.
Deko will serve as a Patrol K-9 for the Raymond Police Department assisting in protection of the officers, tracking and searching.
"We had a few dogs to choose from," said Officer Verboomen, "But Deko was the one who had the most tracking ability, was the strongest and to me had the most drive of K-9's available at the time."
The Vohne Liche Kennels specialize in Police and Military dogs, has placed animals all over the world working with over 5000 law enforcement and government agencies. But for Deko and Officer Verboomen, their training is not complete.
Both will be attending a 10-week course in King County and when they return will be set right into action. For Verboomen, this is his first K-9 assignment, but he looks well suited to the partner and Deko to him.
"I have learned that a handler can either make or break the K-9. But Deko already has some experience and we will be getting good training together," said Verboomen.
After the training course, Deko will have to go through accreditation from the state.
The streets of Raymond will be that much safer with the addition of Deko, and other communities will possibly see him in action as well.
"We have not had a dog since the 1980's," said Chief Spoor, "We do share a drug dog with South Bend, and I am sure that we will get a call from them for Deko and his assistance from time to time."