Reporter ISSAQUAH | SAMMAMISH
Friday, March 8, 2013
www.issaquahreporter.com
TRAINING DAYS
No fan of ban Seattle man launches initiative against Issaquah’s plastic bag ban
County’s K-9 unit cuts teeth on streets of Sammamish BY KEVIN ENDEJAN KENDEJAN@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
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BY LINDA BALL
ot on the trail of a fresh scent, Sam weaves his way across the pitch black Sammamish
Deputy Chris West sprints closely behind the 19-month-old German Shepard, leash in one hand and flashlight in the other. With his nose to the ground and tail pointed skyward, Sam stops and barks to alert West of a piece of evidence — a large hammer — in the grass. It’s not long and Sam is back on the scent, bolting down Stan Chapin Way towards Eastlake High School. The long-haired Shepard targets a dark corner where he finds his prize hiding behind a utility box. Under his handler’s direction, Sam latches onto the perp’s arm, subduing the suspect all while ending another textbook training session by the King County Sheriff ’s Office K-9 unit. Scenes like this aren’t rare on the Plateau — in fact, they’re quite common. Since opening its new Eastside precinct in June 2012, the King County Sheriff ’s Office has trained a handful of dogs and operated multiple “tracks,” four nights a week in Sammamish neighborhoods. It’s a location they consider ideal. “There are lots of trails and lots of foot traffic, so when we’re training at night there’s all kinds of smells,” said Sergeant Jeff Flohr, K-9 supervisor for the county. “It’s pretty amazing when you take into account all the people who have been out during the day.” On the same note, Flohr wants the public to know they are completely safe around the dogs. “We are so confident in what we do, in our training, we’re doing it live,” he said. “The dogs came across several citizens last week and they were just like, ‘you’re not the person I’m tracking.’” Recent television news reports focused on a pair of alleged maulings by a Lakewood Police Department dog in 2010 and 2011. Fair or not, the reports have generated negative attention to other K-9 units in the region. Deputy Randy Potter, a certified trainer and handler, is responsible for teaching all seven human and canine members of the KCSO team — a group whose coverage spans from Shoreline to Federal Way. He makes it clear that biting is the last resort when it comes to tracking a suspect.
LBALL@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
King County Sheriff Deputy Chris West greets 19-month old Sam before heading out to train on the streets of Sammamish. KEVIN ENDEJAN, Issaquah & Sammamish Reporter “The primary focus on to the K-9 team of the dog is a locating three months ago tool and it’s a use of after doing “quarry,” force option after that,” or pretend bad-guy he said. work the last seven All KCSO handlers years. He was given and dogs are required 3-year-old Atilla, a to have 400 hours of German import, who training. In that time along with Sam will be they undergo obedithe newest additions ence, tracking and man/ after they complete bite work. Each handler - Sgt. Jeff Flohr, K-9 Supervisor training. Herman has also brings his dog two young children at home with him where it home, a 3-month old doubles as a family pet. and a 2-year-old. “Once we get out of the car, we’re done with “He knows when he’s at home and he knows our work day,” said West, who is transitioning when he’s at work,” said Herman, showing a to his fourth work dog, Sam. “If we need to go cell phone picture of his 2-year-old son using back to work instantaneously, the dogs always Atilla as a bean bag chair. “He likes to lick know, ‘hey dad’s going for his uniform, the and play. He’ll knock you over by rubbing up closet’s open, it’s time to go.’” SEE K-9 UNIT, 12 Deputy Clint Herman was just brought
“We want dogs that are just as good with the public as they are catching bad guys.”
Issaquah’s ban on plastic bags only went into effect March 1, but already a group has filed an initiative to reverse the ordinance. “Save Our Choice” needs to get 2,843 valid signatures to put the issue to a public vote on the Aug. 6 primary election ballot. “We firmly believe that the vast majority of Issaquah’s citizens oppose this nanny-state policy and give poor marks to this council for not trusting them enough to have referred this question to the voters,” said Craig Keller, who is pushing the effort. Keller, who lives in West Seattle, attempted a similar initiative in Seattle, but didn’t gather enough signatures. Keller said the organization collected 2,700 signatures in Issaquah last June, but didn’t meet the city’s deadline to file. This time the group has six months, and he is confident he can collect the needed signatures in two months. “This is not a West Seattle issue, this is not an Issaquah issue, it’s an agenda that’s driven by fanatics globally and locally,” Keller said. Mark Mullet, who initiated the bag ban in Issaquah when he was on the city council, now represents District 5 in the state Senate. Businesses with a building square footage of 7,500 square feet or larger have to comply immediately, but they are allowed to use up stock of remaining plastic bags. All other retail establishments have until March 1, 2014, to comply, but can start sooner and charge the 5 cent fee for paper bags.