Everett police dog Porter reports for duty. Newest recruit to Everett’s finest ready to sniff out crime. By Ahmed Fawzi, Herald Writer

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20100623/NEWS01/706239856

EVERETT – A new officer is joining Everett police. Porter is a German shepherd who will patrol city streets on his four paws, sniffing out crimes and tracking criminals.

Porter, with his handler officer Tim Collings, will join the city’s four other police dog teams.

Last week Porter and another five police dog teams from other cities completed their training at the Everett Police Department South Precinct. Their graduation means they are now certificated to start their work in Everett, Renton and Seattle.

The officers and their dogs received 540 hours of training over the past 15 months.

“Porter got a range of five to 20 hours of training per week depending on the type of training,covering basic obedience, tracking, building searches, evidence searches, suspect apprehension,” Collings said.

Everett police Officer Suzanne Eviston, who led the recent training program, worked in training dogs for about 25 years, since she was a young girl in Canada.

Seattle police sent three dogs and their partners, and assistant trainer Officer J. Moyer, through the recent program.

Everett is also one of the few agencies that provides police dog training.

“Dogs are really important for the police officers while they help them make their duty easier,” Moyer said. “The record they get depends on the area and how busy it is, but the dogs are always very successful tracking human scents.”

Seattle police dogs found a couple of hundred suspects so far this year who never would have been caught if it was not for the dogs, he said.

Every dog has a different personality and technique.

Because of that, “every dog should be with his one officer who is trained specifically for this dog, because every dog is unique,” Collings said.

Dogs begin training when they are 18 to 24 months old, Eviston said. They live and work with their human partners until they are 9 or 10 years old.

“The dogs start to work with us directly after graduation, but the training is always going with the dogs, They always need to learn more,” Eviston said.

The dogs’ graduation is not the end of their training. They train all the time.

“The dog, like any employee, like a judge, like a lawyer, like any human,” Moyer said, “the more experience they get, the better they get.”

Ahmed Fawzi: 425-339-3449, afawzi@heraldnet.com.