Chris Jones: Greene Publishing, Inc.
Two local law enforcement officers recently completed four months of specialized K-9 patrol training to become certified K-9 units. Officer Anthony Land, with the City of Madison Police Department (MPD), and Deputy Marcus Holbrook, with the Madison County
Madison County Sheriff's Office Deputy Marcus Holbrook and his six-year-old German Shepherd, Axel, recently graduated an intensive four-month training school in Tallahassee.
Officer Anthony Land and his Belgain Malinois, Bolt, are the first K-9 unit at the Madison Police Department.
Sheriff's Office (MCSO), commuted to Tallahassee, four days a week, from December 2016 to April 2017. The school teaches biting, recalls, and obedience, and the 480 hours of instruction are designed to make both the officer and their K-9 partner proficient and comfortable with one another. The two had to travel to Tallahassee to train with the Leon County Sheriff's Office, which has the appropriately trained personnel and facility in which to conduct the training.
Officer Anthony Land has lived in Madison County all of his life. He attended North Florida Community College's (NFCC) public safety academy. He took possession of Bolt, a full-blooded Belgian Malinois, on August 2, 2016. Before they graduated from patrol school, Officer Land could only use Bolt as a narcotics K-9. Bolt is a member of the Land family. He lives alongside Officer Land, his wife, and their three children. However, there are a few house rules that everyone abides by to accommodate their four-legged, crime-fighting family member. Only Officer Land gives Bolt commands, and the children are not allowed to play fight around him. He is very protective of every member of the Land family. According to Officer Land, Bolt is a valuable asset because of the extra layer of protection he provides to officer safety. Law enforcement officers interested in transitioning to a K-9 unit should be patient, have a love for animals, and be passionate about the job, according to Officer Land. Officer Land and Bolt are the first K-9 unit at the MPD.
Deputy Marcus Holbrook also attended the four-month school. After certification, he and his K-9 Axel joined five existing K-9 units at the MCSO. Dep. Holbrook also graduated from the NFCC academy. He worked for the Department of Corrections and the MPD before joining the Sheriff's Office. “I feel safer with Axel,” said Dep. Holbrook. “We have two other pets at home, and Axel quickly established dominance over them.” Dep. Holbrook spent 18 months on the road as a patrol deputy, the prerequisite to joining a specialized unit at the MCSO. Dep. Holbrook and Officer Land attended the same school, but could not carpool. The K-9s have intense alpha personalities, and require their own space in their respective patrol vehicles for transport.
Deputy Eddie Brannon is another new addition to the MCSO K-9 unit. After retiring from 26 years of service as a Federal Game Warden with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, he brought his experience and skills working with K-9s to Madison County. Dep. Brannon values K-9s for not only increasing officer safety, but the public's as well. K-9s are an extra less-than-lethal option for law enforcement. “A K-9 is the only tool that cannot be used against the officer,” Dep. Brannon said. Dep. Brannon's K-9 partner is Riot, a three-year-old Belgian Malinois. Dep. Brannon, with the most experience as a K-9 handler, is the MCSO's resident trainer.
The MCSO may soon sponsor its own K-9 training. NFCC donated four acres of its campus to the Sheriff's Office. According to the K-9 unit Supervisor Corporal Chris O'Brian, there are plans to construct an agility course, structures to train window and door entries, kennels, and a scent wall on the donated property. Cpl. O'Brian hopes that the MCSO will eventually have the ability to host its own training school.
The MCSO K-9 unit trains together twice a month, in addition to the hour each day that K-9 officers and deputy's spend training with their own K-9s, even on their days off. Officer Land and Bolt join Dep. Holbrook and Axel (six-year-old Shepherd), Dep. Brannon and Riot (three year old Belgian Malinois), Cpl. O'Brian and Onyx (seven-year-old German Shepherd), Sgt. Jarrod Lauth and Miso (six-year-old Shepherd/Malinois mix), Sgt. Bobby Boatwright and Leo (eight-year-old Shepherd/Malinois mix), and Dep. Jared Dewey and Max (six-year-old Shepherd/Malinois mix), for comprehensive training. Cpl. O'Brian is proud of the hard work that the K-9s and their handlers do. “We have many successful tracks and apprehensions,” he said. K-9 units are expensive tools in an agency's arsenal. A single dog can cost nearly $7,000, and each vehicle has to be equipped with $5,000 worth of special equipment, such as a cage; heat alarm system, which turns on fans, cracks windows, and pages the officer if the vehicle interior rises to a certain temperature; and officer panic buttons, which allow an officer to remotely release their K-9 from the vehicle. To help compensate for the additional costs of the K-9s and their peripheral equipment, the MCSO has a 501(c)(3) Foundation set up to help raise money for items such as protective vests for the dogs, special K-9 first-aid kits, leashes, and other items.