Police Dogs Sniff Out Awards at Competition

For law-abiding citizens, the football stadium at Redondo Union High School was the safest place you could find on Earth for about eight hours Saturday. If any bad guys had been crazy enough to show up, they would have been confronted by 43 snarling, barking attack dogs, backed up by about 300 well-armed police officers.

And if that wasn’t enough to keep the crooks away, there were a few good men from the Army, Marine Corps and Air Force with their own ferocious-looking canines.

Actually, the police weren’t there to battle bad guys. They had gathered from all over Southern California for the second annual Police Dog Competition, held this time by the Redondo Beach Police Department.

Dogs and their handlers from 27 law enforcement agencies showed their skills in a series of events: obedience, obstacle course, subduing a suspect and the “box search.” In that event, seven large boxes were placed around the field with one of the boxes sheltering a female “suspect” in the form of Donna Lee, a Redondo Beach Police Department dispatcher.

Under the rules, each dog had 90 seconds to race around the boxes and show, by scratching and barking, which one hid Lee.

Some dogs, like a German shepherd named Bandit, went straight to the right box. He and his handler, Palos Verdes Estates Officer Joe Hall, were rewarded with loud applause from the audience.

Others, like an Air Force dog, scampered hither and yon, seemingly bewildered by the profusion of odors on the field. He never did zero in on the right box and the judges blew the whistle on him.

“The military is at a disadvantage in a competition like this,” sympathized Redondo police Lt. John Nelson. “Their dogs have limited training with a number of different handlers.” But police and sheriff’s canines are trained for a variety of tasks, he said, with each dog living and training almost daily with a single officer for up to eight years.

One of the dogs, who shall remain nameless, did what dogs are known to do when they pause beside an object, especially a fireplug. That brought a halt to the competition until the side of the box--not the one in which Lee was hiding--could be cleaned and disinfected.

“The odor could be distracting for the remaining dogs,” Kauffman explained.

The most exciting part was saved for the end of the daylong event, when each dog in the competition was turned loose on another “suspect”--a man this time, well padded against any harmful nips. Most of the dogs did a splendid job. The audience was impressed. But there were some dogs who just kind of gamboled over the grass, barking playfully and generally ignoring the bad guy.

Winners in the events:

Top team trophy--Redondo Beach Police Department, handlers Officers Fernando Mata, Kenneth Greenleaf, Scott McCallon. Best dog overall--Janos, handler Officer Jay Hagan, San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department. Best military dog--Fiscus, handler Royce Caphart, U.S. Marine Corps.

Winners in the open division: Officer John Bell, Inglewood Police Department, first; Officer Ken Greenleaf, Redondo Beach Police Department, second, and Officer Randy Leaf, Manhattan Beach Police Department, third.

Winners in the novice division: Officer Von Layvhs, Rialto Police Department, first; Officer John Zens, Chino Police Department, second, and Officer Scott McWatters, Kern County Sheriff’s Department, third.