Police Dog Platoon Owes a Lot to ‘K-9 Mom’

Nero, a 14-month-old Belgian Malinois, has a bite as bad as his bark. He can track and take down an armed gunman, and without hesitation, jump in front of a bullet to protect his handler.

So, why is this canine--the quintessential police dog--playing what looks like patty-cake with a pair of elderly women? Even worse, he’s licking their hands and acting like a silly puppy.

“They’re babies,” said 94-year-old Harriet Moffat, the founder of a fund to purchase dogs for the Los Angeles Police Department. “They’re my babies.”

Moffat, dubbed “K-9 Mom” by members of the LAPD’s K-9 Platoon, is as much a part of the elite team as any of the four-legged workers or their handlers. For more than 20 years, she has had a hand in purchasing almost every police dog in the department.

“This unit is very special to me,” said Moffat, while sitting on a bench on the training grounds of the Los Angeles Police Academy in Elysian Park. “It’s grown a lot since I first started--from two dogs to a team of 16 fearless dogs.”

The department’s K-9 units began as a pilot program in April 1980 within the LAPD’s West Bureau. Moffat, of Westwood, was a volunteer in the department’s West Los Angeles station and remembered talking to the unit’s first two officers and their dogs when they came to the station for a class on the use of tear gas.

“They told me it was a pilot program,” she recalled. “They also said it may not be around for a long time because there was not a lot of money to be spending on dogs.”

Moffat took it upon herself to help the unit. Why? She loves dogs, she loves law enforcement, and she thought it was a unique and useful unit.

“I told them I would help them get dogs,” said Moffat. If the department could train canine handlers, she said, “I knew I could get the dogs.”

In the early years of the fund, Moffat raised money simply by asking friends and businesses for donations. Most were happy to give. Later, the fund was left a large bequest in a donor’s will, which sustained it for about 10 years. The fund now has tax-exempt status and its eight-member board, which includes Moffat, is looking for donations.

When she launched the effort, Moffat was president of the West Los Angeles Police Boosters Club. Its first goal was to buy just one dog. She purchased a young German shepherd for a surprisingly inexpensive $500. The dogs that the fund purchases now typically cost $5,000.

Through the years, the K-9 Fund has purchased about 50 dogs, mainly German shepherds and Belgian Malinois, but also Rottweilers and, recently, bloodhounds, which may start seeing action within a year.

Currently, 16 dogs are on the squad, but it could still use more, said Lt. Steve Zipperman, head of the unit.

In the last year, the dogs have been involved in more than 725 searches for felons and have posted a better than 50% capture rate, Zipperman said. In years past, the dogs have been involved in as many as 2,000 searches a year, said Sgt. Doug Roller, head trainer for the unit, who met Moffat in the mid-1980s.

“Without these dogs, our searches would be a lot more dangerous and time-consuming,” said Roller. “They basically cut our search times by at least an hour, but more importantly, help save lives.”

Sgt. Steve Groover, the senior member of the squad with 13 years of K-9 experience, said he expects the squad to grow, especially since the dogs are used on more assignments. Aside from the K-9 Platoon, the LAPD’s bomb squad and narcotics units have their own teams of dogs.

Over the years, the dogs have been used in major events, such as the North Hollywood bank shootout in 1997, but usually are called on to hunt down a single robber, burglar or other criminal.

“These dogs work every day,” said Groover.

Moffat enjoys hearing police and canine stories. She visits the dogs, but she admits it has become more difficult with age.

When Moffat arrives at the police academy, trainers and officers greet her with smiles and hugs. The veteran sergeants and lieutenants have known her for years. Some made trips to Germany with her to purchase five young dogs.

“She’s been very instrumental to the growth of this department,” said Officer James McConnell, who is Nero’s handler and is in his first year with the squad.

“Without her, there’s no telling what would have become of this unit,” he said.

As McConnell trained with his dog, Moffat watched from her bench, joined by Elizabeth Peeples of West Los Angeles, another supporter of the K-9 squad.

Through her contributions, Peeples, 80, has helped purchase three dogs and a horse for the mounted police squad.

“I feel I owe it to the Police Department,” said Peeples, retired from the motion picture industry. “They put their lives on the line for us. I think I should give something back.”

Moffat has watched the dogs train during the 14 weeks of obedience, agility, tracking and officer protection training that will ultimately determine if the dogs have what it takes to wear a badge.

However, she still does not truly understand what makes a police dog.

“They smell fear, but they are not in fear,” she said. “I know it’s something with the criminal’s sweat.”

The stories of bravery are many, said Moffat. Police dogs have been shot, stabbed, thrown off buildings and hit with baseball bats.

One such story was that of Liberty, a talented Rottweiler who was shot to death a few years ago by a murder suspect. Even while mortally wounded, she continued to protect her handler, who also had been shot.

Liberty is one of five police dogs killed in the line of duty. She ended her career with about 250 searches and 103 arrests in her two years on the squad.

“These dogs are incredible,” Moffat said. “These dogs are smarter than some people I know.”

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The Los Angeles Police K-9 Fund can be reached at 12304 Santa Monica Blvd., 3rd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90025.