ORANGE : New Canine Cop Is Dogged Tracker

The Police Department trotted out its latest addition to the force on Monday--Eris, a canine cop with a talent for tracking.

Since June, the 2 1/2-year-old German shepherd has accompanied Officer Keith Marshall on patrols. The dog has already sniffed out two suspects, one of whom had eluded police by hiding in a tree.

Eris, who responds to German commands, is now trained only to search for suspects and alert officers to their location. But early next year, she will also receive training in finding drugs.

Friendly but sleepy, Eris yawned repeatedly throughout a press conference in front of the police station Monday morning, prompting Marshall to point out, “She’s tired. She’s had a long weekend” working nights.

Marshall, 29, said Eris makes an excellent partner. “It’s intimidating to bad guys. It’s a deterrent,” he said. “It’s a lot safer for them and a lot safer for us. You can have a baton, you can have a gun, but when they come out, they think, ‘Oh, (he’s got) a dog.’ ”

Although dogs such as Eris are trained to alert police to a suspect’s presence rather than attack, many people fear the dogs and become less likely to resist arrest or flee, he said. In fact, Marshall said that before he got Eris, he once lied to a fleeing suspect and shouted, “Stop or I’ll release the dog!”

He said the suspect surrendered immediately.

Marshall said Eris thinks that training is a game, which makes it easy to teach the dog new tricks. “It’s all fun,” Marshall said. “Searching for people is fun (and) she has a high play drive.”

Eris lives with Marshall at home. “She’s very sociable. My kid (plays with and) feeds the dog,” he said, referring to his 4-year-old son, Patrick.

Eris was donated to the department by the local Elks Lodge and Adray’s department store. They spent $8,000 to buy and train the dog.