Middlesex Police introduce new K-9
MIDDLESEX TWP -- Middlesex K-9 officer Mark Heider introduced the township’s new police dog, an 18-month-old German Shepherd named Bolt, at a Middlesex board of supervisors meeting on Wednesday night.
The township’s previous K-9, Mibo, who had been with the department since 2015, died Aug. 14 of a “medical emergency,” according to the department.
Bolt will be trained as a narcotics dog, as opposed to a bomb detection dog, based on recommendations from Heider and the police department.
K-9 dogs can have two different types of training, and Mibo was a bomb-detection dog. Heider explained that dogs cannot be trained to do both narcotics detection and bomb detection because it would be dangerous for a dog to signal the presence of something without it being clear whether the danger is from drugs or explosives.
“Our recommendation, and my recommendation, is specifically we should go with a drug dog. It is more beneficial for what we are dealing with,” Heider said. “He will still have all the capabilities for the patrol, which is important to me.”
According to Heider, Bolt was born in Poland, and his commands are in Dutch due to being routed through a Dutch supplier. Also, commands to police dogs are typically issued in another language to avoid a situations where a suspect might try to distract a dog by shouting at it. Bolt currently weighs 57 pounds.
“I’ve seen him do some bite work. He hits like a brick,” Heider said. “I think he will turn out well.”
The department has received a number of donations to support Bolt’s training, he added, including an anonymous donation for $9,500 and a grant through the United States Police Canine Associations (USPCA) for $7,500.
Heider expects Bolt to be ready and trained by Christmas if everything goes well.
