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VOL. 16 • NO. 44
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Villa Park
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THURSDAY, OCT. 22, 2020
Police K-9 and his handler build a partnership German shepherd joined the department this summer; works and lives with his handler
STAFF REPORT
Villa Park Police officers are usually on their own when they’re on patrol. Officer Matt Rol vel Rul, however, has a loyal partner by his side at all times. Rol vel Rul is the handler of Luke—the Villa Park Police Department’s K-9 officer. Luke, a German shepherd, joined the department in June. Luke is Villa Park’s first K-9 officer since Inoe—a Belgian Malinois—retired in 2015. Officer Bryan Hruby was Inoe’s handler. “I’ve wanted to do it since I first came here,” said Rol vel Rul of working as a K-9 handler. He joined the Villa Park department as a parttime officer in 2010. He’s been a full-time officer in Villa Park since 2013. “When Hruby had Inoe I would follow them around. I was always interested in it.” After five years without a K-9 officer, the Villa Park Police Department was able to purchase Luke and pay for his training thanks to a generous donation from Ken Witkowski, a retired part-time Villa Park officer. After Rol vel Rul indicated his interest in serving as a K-9 handler, Villa Park Police Chief Mike Lay selected him for the duty. In June, Rol vel Rul spent about one month with Luke at a K-9 training facility in Michigan. Luke officially joined the Villa Park Police Department this summer. Luke was born in Mexico. According to his birth certificate, he is about 2½ years old. Rol vel Rul
said Luke acts much younger than his age. “He’s full of energy,” said Rol vel Rul of Luke. “He’s an extremely energetic dog. His drive is huge. When they look for working dogs, one of the biggest things they look for is drive. Luke’s got drive he can give away to other dogs. He’s definitely not one to be shy of the work.” Rol vel Rul said that Luke can be just like any person in terms of having good days and bad days. “He’s got his own personality, absolutely,” said Rol vel Rul, who noted that Luke has recently become more protective and possessive of their police vehicle. “I’m assigned the car; it comes home with me,” said Rol vel Rul. “I’m a glorified chauffeur for him. The car belongs to him. It’s built for him. I just drive it.” Luke doesn’t just work with Rol vel Rul. He lives with him. Rol vel Rul already had a dog—a Lhasa Apso—when he became Luke’s handler. The Lhasa Apso is about one-quarter of Luke’s size. Rol vel Rul gradually introduced the dogs to each other at his home. “They get along fine now; there are no issues,” said Rol vel Rul. Luke is learning about the distinction of when it’s time to work and when it’s time to relax. When they arrive home, Rol vel Rul removes one of Luke’s collars as soon as they pull in the garage. When they enter the vehicle to go to work, Rol vel Rul puts that collar on. “That’s his cue that we’re going to work,” said Rol vel Rul, who usually works during the afternoon shift of 3 to 11 p.m. “He’s still learning, but he’s definitely feeling it out. He’s extremely smart.” Luke is trained to sniff out the presence of narcotics, including
Inside:
Police Reports...........6 Sports �������������������� 14 Smart Mama.......... 12 Classifieds..............13
CHRIS FOX PHOTOS Villa Park Review
Luke, a German shepherd, joined the Villa Park Police Department as a K-9 officer this summer. Officer Matt Rol vel Rul is Luke’s handler. Luke works and lives with Rol vel Rul. “He’s like my shadow, even at home,” said Rol vel Rul. In addition to being trained to sniff out narcotics like cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, Luke is capable of assisting in building searches, human searches and article searches.
cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. Luke is also trained to assist in tracking, building searches and searching for humans and articles. An example of an article search, said Rol vel Rul, would be searching for a weapon that a subject discarded while being pursued by police. Luke doesn’t respond to anyone else’s voice like he responds to Rol vel Rul. The officer recalled the time he gave some commands to some of his police colleagues at the department and left the room. Moments later, when those officers spoke those commands to Luke, the dog responded with a puzzled look. Rol vel Rul and Luke meet and train every other week with K-9 officers and handlers from other area police departments, including Elm-
hurst, Wood Dale, Glendale Heights and Darien. “We find a new location and we go and train,” said Rol vel Rul. “The training never stops.” Having Luke as a partner is like having a personal alarm system, said Rol vel Rul, who noted that Luke isn’t shy about barking after seeing someone in his vicinity. “He knows what he’s doing; I’m the dummy at the end of the leash,” joked Rol vel Rul. “We are a team. He probably does 60 percent of the work. I do 40 percent of the work. He does all the sniffing. I need to read what he’s doing, what he’s thinking. We’re getting better with understanding each other. It takes awhile for everybody to get comfortable.”
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