Tuesday, June 26, 2007

K-9 Kimo Wins Competition

WILMINGTON - Kimo and his K-9 unit partner Eric Palmer have had a busy year since a Crier reporter first interviewed Palmer after last year’s competition/certification event.

This year the pair won 1st overall in the Open Class in the United States Police Canine Association’s Region 9 Competition/Certification event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The open class, which is for any dog/handler combination that have more than one year of experience competing together, had about 20 dogs competing in it this year.

Many of the other dogs and handlers that Kimo and Palmer competed against are the same K-9 units that they train with. Palmer said it was great competition and that everyone he trains with did very well in the competition. He modestly said that they are all about the same level and “it can all come down to who’s having a good day.”

Clearly they were having a good day. Kimo did extremely well, winning the first place trophies for agility and obedience and also the trophy for 1st place overall. In these competitions the dogs and the handlers are scored as a team.

Palmer and Kimo scored high enough in the competition to exceed the high standard that qualifies for Nationals which will take place in Florida in October 2007. If the department decides to send them, Kimo will be one of a couple of hundred dogs competing against much larger police departments from across the country.

Palmer credits Kimo with losing very few points for their team. Dog points can be taken for things like not sitting straight or having their nails scratch an obstacle they are going over. Sometimes handlers lose even more points, for things like touching a collar during competition. The handlers have a running joke that “on one end of a leash is a dumb animal and on the other end, a trained police dog,” said Palmer laughing.

It hasn’t been all fun and games for Kimo and Palmer. They are on call 24/7 and in the last few months Kimo has done some great work. On Salem Street, where there are some new units, someone breaking and entering tripped an alarm. The response team found a glass break, knew it was a real alarm and called Palmer. Kimo tracked the suspect through woods, around a neighborhood and deep into the woods where he eventually found him.

On another case, Kimo was called in because there was a case involving youth breaking into a number of cars. A woman heard a break in and in her car she followed the suspect who was on foot. The response team blocked the area with cars and called in Kimo. Everyone was surprised when Kimo took off in the opposite direction than the one indicated by witnesses. He found a second suspect hiding. Then he went the other direction and found the first suspect that witnesses had noticed. Palmer then set Kimo free and he found more of the stuff that the suspects had taken. He found a backpack with cell phones, wallets and other property taken from cars. The next day when people called to report break-ins and missing items they were pleased to hear that Kimo had recovered many of their belongings.

For now Palmer and Kimo remain busy on the job while they wait to see if the Department decides to send them to the National competition in October.

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