By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Dowagiac Police Department's newest member is also its youngest at 2 (in June) and its lightest at 55 pounds.
She's also fluent in German and likes to sing, judging from the harmonic howl she added at Rotary Club Thursday noon at Elks Lodge 889.
District Gov. Dr. Gil O'Rourke, an obstetrician from Jackson who is responsible for the Dowagiac club and 60 others, joked, &#8221Some clubs sing, some don't.
City Manager Bill Nelson introduced Cessy, who will officially be sworn in as Dowagiac's first canine unit at Monday night's council meeting, and her handler, Officer Dave Davis.
Cessy represents a $10,000 investment.
Sheriff Joseph M. Underwood Jr. said his deputy dog, Gigi, a black German shepherd, is handled by Deputy Tim Gondeck.
Gigi is from Budapest and &#8221speaks“; Hungarian. Gigi will debut at an upcoming Board of Commissioners meeting.
Davis, a 1984 Union High School graduate, has been in law enforcement since 1986 after attending Kalamazoo Valley Community College for a law enforcement degree. His first position almost 20 years ago was a reserve officer with the Cass County Sheriff's Office.
Cessy makes her home with the Davis family, including his wife, Beth, their 7-year-old son, a dog and a cat.
Davis, who has been on the city force just over 10 years, said, &#8221Canine law enforcement is something I've always had an interest in going back to the beginning. The opportunity came up here last fall when the chief and I began talking about the possibility of a canine unit.
After four weeks &#8221up and running,“; Davis said Cessy has &#8221participated in half a dozen vehicle searches, one search warrant assist per Michigan State Police with the drug unit south of Vandalia and one suspect tracked here in the city when we had an attempted burglary of one of the towing businesses. She took us right to where they had been. She did her job. It's a busy time for us. She likes to work. She's a very high-drive dog, which is great. That's what we need. She lives to work.
Police Chief Tom Atkinson agreed the purchase enabled by the drug millage voters approved in 2004 and partly by drug forfeitures &#8221will be a tremendous asset to our drug enforcement efforts in Dowagiac as well as the county. It's the first time we've ever had a dog.“;
Bomb dogs are used in Iraq, Atkinson said, &#8221but they're very high maintenance. They have to work to get food. It's constant, 24-hours-a-day training. Rudy has (two) in Elkhart. If we had a bomb scare in Dowagiac or Edwardsburg, he would come up here and assist us.“;
Davis explained that there are two types of &#8221alerts“; when dogs detect narcotics.
A passive alert involves the dog sitting and pointing in the general direction of the odor.
Cessy and Gigi are trained in aggressive alert. They &#8221scratch like crazy. We prefer the aggressive alert because it's more defined. It pinpoints it and makes it easier for us to recognize. Bomb dogs, obviously, are passive alert. Cessy is trained in German commands. Mr. Drexler sends us audio tapes. Tim and I have become international citizens to learn how to handle these dogs.“;