K-9 Tribute - City of Marshalltown

May 2010 – Special Edition
K-9 Tribute
A history with the Marshalltown Police Department
The month of May is dedicated as Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Month. All year
long, and especially during May, we honor and pay tribute to those officers who have
made the Ultimate Sacrifice.
During this month of remembrance it is also fitting that we honor and acknowledge the
outstanding contributions made by the Marshalltown Police Department’s K9 Teams,
both past and present.
Police K9’s are more than just “working dogs” they are trusted members of their
respective departments and share a special place in the hearts of not only their
handlers but also every member of the department in which they serve.
The following biographies are listed in chronological order, beginning with K9 Lugar
and his handler Sgt. John Ruopp (Ret) on up to our current K9’s Awol & Creasy and
their respective handlers Officer Melinda Ruopp and Officer Kiel Stevenson.
As you read the following biographies you will see that they represent just some of the
hard work and dedication put forth by our department K9 teams. Listed below are the
K9’s teams in the order they served with the department.
K9 Lugar (deceased) and his handler Sgt. John Ruopp (ret.). 1981 - 1986
K9 Monty (deceased) and his handler Officer Randy Kessler. 1991 - 1999
K9 JR (deceased) and his handler Officer Melinda Ruopp. 1998 - 2007
K9 Marco (retired) and his handler Lt. Chris Jones. 2000 - 2009
K9 Awol and his handler Officer Melinda Ruopp. Active Duty K9 Team 2008
K9 Creasy and his handler Officer Kiel Stevenson. Active Duty K9 Team 2009
In closing I want to add my appreciation for their tireless efforts to serve and protect
not only the members of our department but the citizens of Marshalltown in which they
also serve.
Michael J. Hanken, Captain
Patrol Commander
K-9 Fundraising
K-9 units have historically been funded through private contributions. The start
up cost for a K-9 unit ranges. Most recently to fully train K-9 Creasy cost a
total of $17,000 – (Dog $7,200, Training $2,500, Hotel $5,000, Food $1,500,
Gas $800). Wal-mart has been a sponsor of the K-9 program by providing
food. Over the years several companies, organizations and individuals have
contributed to the program. Below are a few pictures from the recent
contribution from Lennox.
K-9 Lugar
Service Years 1981-1986
K9 Lugar was the first K-9 in Marshalltown, purchased in the late summer of
1981. K-9 Lugar was a pure bred, German Shepherd Dog who’s real name
was “Maple Wildwood Michaels”.
John and Sgt. Buffington worked together to began the fund raising process.
They raised $3000, which was all that was needed to purchase Lugar. Just
as today, the citizens of Marshalltown funded Lugar.
K-9 Lugar was approximately 3 years old when he was purchased and was
fully trained in Patrol and Narcotic Detection. He was trained at the Rudy
Drexler K-9 School in Elkhart, Indiana.
Ruopp took his own vehicle to Elhart where he spent two weeks learning how
to work Lugar.
Lugar and Ruopp served the city of Marshalltown until 1986 when Lugar was
forced to retire due to his age and medical concerns. He lived until 1988 at
home with Ruopp.
Some of Lugar and Ruopps career highs include multiple burglar
apprehensions, many drug finds, numerous demos and public appearances,
as well as assisting with riot control during the Swift strike. Lugar was certified
through the USPCA.
K-9 Monty
Service Years 1991-1999
K-9 Monty began life as a pet for a Minneapolis area family until he grew too
large to be kept.
Officer Randy Kessler and Monty met at the Minneapolis Police Department K-9
Training Facility in the spring of 1991 and trained together for the next 15 weeks
until graduating as a duel purpose K-9 team (street and narcotics).
Over the next 9 years Monty patrolled the city of Marshalltown with Kessler.
During that time Monty performed 152 building searches, 14 area searches, and
26 tracks, resulting in 23 finds/apprehensions. Monty performed 525 narcotic
searches with 356 finds. Monty’s first narcotic search as a K-9 resulted in the
seizure of 25 pounds of marijuana concealed in a vehicle.
Monty was called upon to assist surrounding law enforcement agencies 31 times,
and conducted countless public appearances, and demonstrations.
Monty and Kessler certified annually through the United States Police Canine
Association (USPCA) for PDI (Patrol Dog) and Narcotic Detection and were
awarded the Top Rookie Dog award by USPCA Region 21 in 1992. Monty went
on to win numerous awards through the USPCA and in 1999 he was inducted
into the Iowa Veterinary Medical Association Animal Hall of Fame in the
Professional category.
Kessler served as USPCA Region 21 President twice, and as the USPCA
National Treasurer. Kessler was also a USPCA National Judge for PDI, PDII &
PDIIX (tracking), Narcotics, Explosives, Accelerant, and Cadaver dogs, and
traveled the USA to certify other departments K-9 teams.
Monty succumbed to cancer in 2001.
K-9 J.R.
Service Years 1998-2007
K-9 J.R was born in 1996 in St
Paul, Mn. He was donated to the
St. Paul Police Department
Canine Training Center and
assigned to Officer Melinda
Ruopp. He completed a 12 week
course in patrol skills in 1998 and
a 2 week narcotic detection
course in 1999.
During his career with the
Marshalltown Police Department,
JR located thousands of dollars
worth of narcotics and made
dozens of apprehensions.
He was a social dog and did
hundreds of demonstrations for
groups,
schools
and
organizations.
He enjoyed
showing off and loved to chase
his tail as a "trick".
JR was successful, winning
many awards and competitions.
K9 JR earned awards for street
finds, apprehensions and other
work related cases.
His greatest achievement was winning the "Top Dog in the Nation" during the
2004 Police Canine Detector Trials in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi. He won
other top dog awards including 2nd place, 3rd place, 9th place and 13th
place.
J.R. worked for the city of Marshalltown from 1998 until his retirement in the
spring of 2007. He succumbed to age related problems in the fall of 2008 and
was laid to rest next to K-9 Lugar and other pets on the family farm.
K-9 Marco
Service Years 2000-2009
Marco was born in 1998. Not much is known about his background. Marco
was rescued as a puppy by the Como Park Humane Society in St. Paul
Minnesota, and donated to the St. Paul Police Canine Academy in 1999.
Marco was then matched with Officer Christopher Jones in February 2000.
Both Marco and Officer Jones attended the St. Paul Canine Academy from
February through June of 2000. After completing their training, Marco
began work for the Marshalltown Police Department within the
department’s patrol division.
Marco and Officer
Jones have been
recognized as one
of the top canine
patrol teams in the
State
of
Iowa
during their 9-year
career.
Marco retired from
police work in
February
2009
and currently lives
with
Sergeant
Jones and his
family.
K-9 Marco
Career Accomplishments
UNITED STATES POLICE CANINE ASSOCIATION Region 21 Rookie Canine of
the Year in 2000.
3rd Place Overall recipient during UNITED STATES POLICE CANINE
ASSOCIATION Region 21 Police Dog Trials in 2000.
1st Place Team Overall Champion during UNITED STATES POLICE CANINE
ASSOCIATION Region 21 Police Dog Trials in 2002.
2nd Place Overall runner-up during UNITED STATES POLICE CANINE
ASSOCIATION Region 21 Police Dog Trials in 2002.
Ranked one of the top 50 Police Patrol Dogs in the United States by UNITED
STATES POLICE CANINE ASSOCIATION in 2002.
2nd Place Overall runner-up during UNITED STATES POLICE CANINE
ASSOCIATION Region 21 Police Dog Trials in 2003.
3rd Place Team Overall recipient during UNITED STATES POLICE CANINE
ASSOCIATION Region 21 Police Dog Trials in 2003.
Ranked one of the top 50 Police Patrol Dogs in the United States by UNITED
STATES POLICE CANINE ASSOCIATION in 2003.
4th Place Overall recipient during UNITED STATES POLICE CANINE
ASSOCIATION Region 21 Police Dog Trials in 2004.
3rd Place Criminal Apprehension recipient during UNITED STATES POLICE
CANINE ASSOCIATION Region 21 Police Dog Trials in 2005.
1st Place Criminal Apprehension Champion during UNITED STATES POLICE
CANINE ASSOCIATION Region 21 Police Dog Trials in 2006.
3rd Place Team Overall recipient during UNITED STATES POLICE CANINE
ASSOCIATION Region 21 Police Dog Trials in 2006.
Recipient of UNITED STATES POLICE CANINE Patrol Case of the Quarter 2006
for apprehending a fleeing suspect who had stolen a motor vehicle.
Recipient of UNITED STATES POLICE CANINE Patrol Case of the Year 2006 for
apprehending a robbery suspect who fled a high speed police chase.
Recipient of UNITED STATES POLICE CANINE Patrol Case of the Quarter 2007
for locating an injured person who had left the scene of a serious personal injury
accident requiring immediate medical attention.
Directly responsible for the recovery of 725.3 grams of Methamphetamine with a
street sale value of approximately $36,265 and 928.1 grams of Marijuana with a
street sale value of $23,202, along with over $4000.00 in U.S. Currency.
During Marco’s 9 year career, he has aided in the apprehension of 40 criminal
suspects while performing his patrol duties.
K-9 Awol
Service Years 2008-Present
K-9 Awol was born in 2006 in
the Slavonia Republic. He is
a heavy coat, 95 pound Czech
Shepherd. He was assigned
to officer Melinda Ruopp and
trained at the St Paul, MN
Canine Training Center for 12
weeks. He was also trained
by Officer Ruopp in Narcotic
Detection.
K-9 Awol's skills include
obedience, tracking, handler
protection, evidence recovery,
agility and narcotic detection.
K-9 Awol is living up to K-9
J.R in his winning ways. He
won two awards in 2008 for a
street apprehension and a
drug find. He also placed 4th
in the nation during the
National Detector Dog Trials
in Colorado Springs in 2009.
He also just earned the top score during the Iowa Detector Dog trials in the
spring of 2010.
Awol recently tracked a subject who was intent upon committing suicide and
was able to locate him in a timber area where officers contacted him and
took him to get the help that he needed.
Awol lives at home with his handler and works the 3-11 pm shift at the Police
Department.
K-9 Creasy
Service Years 2009-Present
K9 Creasy was born in
2008 in the Slavonia
Republic.
He is a
German
Shepherd
weighing 80 lbs.
K9
Creasy is assigned to
Officer Kiel Stevenson
and together they work
the midnight shift.
Officer Stevenson and K9
Creasy received basic
patrol training at the St.
Paul,
MN
Police
Department
Training
Center. K9 Creasy was
trained for multiple skills
in this 12 week school
including suspect search,
suspect
apprehension,
tracking,
handler
protection and evidence
recovery.
K9 Creasy is a dual purpose canine and is also trained for narcotics
detection. K9 Creasy was trained in narcotics detection by Officer
Melinda Ruopp and Officer Stevenson.
Officer Stevenson and K9 Creasy are the newest addition to the
Marshalltown Police Department K9 Unit.
K-9 Demonstrations
K-9 Creasy
K-9 Creasy
K-9 Creasy
K-9 Demonstrations
K-9 J.R.
K-9 Marco
K-9 J.R.
K-9 Marco