A growing force: Cape Girardeau Police Department, community members raise funds for expanding K-9 unit

"To Protect and Serve."

It's a motto police departments have adopted around the country.

And it may just be the reason why German shepherds are such a perfect fit for law enforcement.

"The German shepherd is what we usually get, because they're so bred ... I mean, God made them specifically for police work," said Sgt. Bryan Blanner, one of two K-9 handlers with the Cape Girardeau Police department. "They're made for that."

Blanner has been the handler of K-9 Schupo for more than five years, and has seen the dog's value in a multitude of settings, from sniffing out narcotics, to tracking suspects on the run, to searching for missing children and being an ambassador to the public.

Sgt. Bryan Blanner pets K-9 officer Schupo outside the River Campus Monday in Cape Girardeau.Andrew J. Whitaker

With the retirement of K-9 Reno this spring, Schupo is the longest tenured dog and will retire this fall in a canine division that is in the biggest transition since its launch in 1991.

At this time next year, the canine division will be at its largest ever, with an around-the-clock presence. It'll be the result of an aggressive fundraising campaign to purchase four dogs, including one fundraiser called Sounds for Hounds, a concert to be held Saturday in the Bedell Performance Hall at the Southeast Missouri State University River Campus.

"We've been beyond fortunate with how we've gotten support for the K-9 division," Blanner said. "We had a lofty goal of raising $60,000, because that would actually outfit the department with four dogs, one for every single platoon."

The concert, which will feature the Jerry Ford Orchestra & Friends, Dr. Andrew Moore, Mike Renick, Steve Schaffner, Tina Trickey, Brodrick Twiggs and Bruce Zimmerman, appears to be the final push needed to achieve that goal.

The "Pay for the Pups" campaign kicked off in January with a dog wash performed by police officers in uniform at Mississippi Mutts. It was a successful launch for a drive that has pulled in contributions from citizens, community organizations and businesses.

K-9 officer Dallas outside of the Southeast Missouri State River Campus Monday, July 17, 2017 in Cape Girardeau.Andrew J. Whitaker

"It's been great," Blanner said. "A little girl actually went around her neighborhood and was just collecting money just to help us out, raised like $200 just from her neighborhood. So we've had not only businesses, we actually had citizens stepping up and really showing support for the department, especially the canine division."

The funds already have allowed for the purchase and training of K-9 Dallas, who began street duty in mid-June. Dallas' handler is Officer Eric Steiner, who also underwent eight weeks of training with Dallas.

"It's been an incredible experience," Steiner said. "I'm not from Cape Girardeau. I'm from the St. Louis area, but one of the reason I stuck around down here was just, the community is so tight-knit, and the support we've gotten for our police department and for the expansion of our program just reaffirms the choice I made to stay down here."

Steiner, who has been with the Cape PD for three years, said Dallas already has detected narcotics on one car search. Depending on the scenario, Dallas and Schupo are alternatives for dealing with situations beyond tasers, mace and guns.

"The dogs give us another tool in our belt to do our job effectively," Steiner said.

K-9 officer Schupo holds in his mouth a training sleeve after giving a demonstration outside of the Southeast Missouri State River Campus Monday, July 17, 2017 in Cape Girardeau.Andrew J. Whitaker

Currently, Blanner and Steiner have been rotating shifts and on call when not on duty, and training is ongoing for both police officers and dogs.

"Yeah, he's coming into his own," Blanner said about Dallas, who was imported from Slovakia. "He impresses me every training period, and his handler is really acclimating himself to not only becoming a great police officer, but a great handler. I see big things for them."

Plans call for two more dogs to be purchased in September, and a fourth around March, which will provide a dog for each platoon.

It will represent quite an evolution for the canine division, which started with Greif, who was imported from Germany in 1991. Officer Dennis Horn, instrumental in the startup of the program, was the handler for Greif, who ultimately was injured on duty in 1993 and retired.

His replacement, Jupp, came from the Czech Republic and served from 1994 to 2002. It was in 2002 when the canine division doubled in size with the purchase of Bolo and Toben, who retired in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Their replacements were Reno and Schupo, who is from the Czech Republic.

From left, Officer Eric Steiner, K-9 Officer Dallas, Chris Poston, Ashley Cracraft, Rob Rueseler and Sgt. Bryan Blattner with Officer Schupo pose for a photo with a check of $4,000 dollars that will be used for the K-9 Unit at the Cape Girardeau Police Department.Andrew J. Whitaker

The purchase of all of the dogs has been brokered by Riverview Canine, a business in Cape Girardeau operated by two part-time officers with the Cape PD. It's been a successful operation since Greif.

Blanner makes it a point to tell his audiences at presentations that his department is "beyond lucky" to have the expertise of Riverview Canine in its backyard. He sees other departments as far away as Jefferson City bring their dogs to the facility, often having to spend a couple weeks in the area to get the training that's available to Cape PD on a regular basis.

Greif, who was trained at Riverview Canine, paved the way for dogs like Dallas.

"Because of that training that he had, that dog impressed," Blanner said about Greif. "And they got another one, and that dog impressed.

"We've kind of evolved to that point now in 2017, where we've grown to the point where we're ready to have four dogs. It's taken a while and a lot of hard work on the backs of those dogs, back to those handlers, but we're slowly expanding and we're getting to the point where we need to get."

Sgt. Bryan Blattner with K-9 officer Schupo and Officer Eric Steiner and K-9 officer Dallas pose for a photo outside of the Southeast Missouri State River Campus Monday, July 17, 2017 in Cape Girardeau. Officer Dallas recently joined the force while officer Schupo will soon retire later this September. The Cape Police Department plans to obtain two more K-9 officers, of a total of four, having one on duty for every shift in a day.Andrew J. Whitaker

The police department's budget allots $14,000 a year for the maintenance of the animals, but it does not include funds for the purchase of new dogs. The multi-purpose German shepherds the Cape PD purchases from overseas have a current price of about $14,500. In addition to the eight-week training course, dogs and handlers receive weekly training to maintain skills.

"What I would tell people is, you get what you pay for with the dogs," Blanner said. "Ours are expensive, but we have some of the finest dogs in the state, bar none."

Not only do the dogs sniff out drugs that cannot be found by humans, they help in apprehending criminals, and they also serve as ambassadors for the men in blue.

"I've done more presentations than I can count, whether it be to small children at schools, which is always a blast -- to be perfectly honest, it's hilarious to see and hear what they say and see their faces light up -- to adult groups.

"I just did one for Cape Noon Optimist Club. You get to get the word out. Some of them had no idea we were having a fundraising effort. Some of them had no idea we had a canine division. Some thought we had one dog that got called in every once in a while."

Sgt. Bryan Blattner with K-9 officer Schupo pose for a photo outside of the Southeast Missouri State River Campus Monday, July 17, 2017 in Cape Girardeau.Andrew J. Whitaker

Usually purchased at the age of about 1 1/2, police dogs have a typical service career of eight or nine years to a department and community.

"If we can locate just one child that is lost, that alone is worth the price of the dog," Blanner said. "That's one thing people don't think about, and I think is beyond needed and a huge asset to the community."

jbreer@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3629