Greenville Magazine - June 2008 - (Page 21)

K9 Unit, Officer Mike austin and Fox Fox, like any dog, loves to play. But because of his job, his “games” help enforce Greenville laws. As a canine member of the Greenville Police Department’s K9 Unit, Fox helps fight crime in a number of ways – from trapping dangerous suspects to tracking down drugs and missing persons. His partner, Officer Mike Austin, has been training the German Shepherd since May 2006, when the police purchased him as a 16-week-old “green” puppy, and Austin says it’s like having another kid in the family. Fox lives at Austin’s home in a backyard kennel provided by the city. Almost inseparable, the pair spends every workday together, which, in police work, often extends to nights as well. Together, they spend ten hours each week in training to keep Fox at top form – running drills like returning objects, running searches and apprehending mock suspects. As Fox runs a search in Cleveland Park, Austin says, “it looks like there’s no method to his madness, but there is.” And sure enough, Fox finds the bagged marijuana Austin hid earlier in a matter of minutes, wagging his tail eagerly and dog-grinning over his accomplishment. When people ask Austin about Fox, the officer says that most often, they just want to know if they can pet him. Austin rarely says ‘yes’, but it’s not because Fox is dangerous. “We like for the dogs to be social, but not too social,” he said, referring to those used by the police force. “It would be bad if [Fox] thought everyone was his friend.” For example, Austin explained, it would be dangerous if during an arrest Fox playfully rolled over. “We don’t need him thinking, ‘This guy’s a friend. I don’t have to bite him,’” Austin said. All police dogs that work in the county – only two work inside the City of Greenville – are trained by their partnering officers, and each is trained in a different, typically Russian-based language so suspects aren’t as likely to mimic the commands themselves. Austin admits, however, that because of his accent, the commands he uses are probably more of an Eastern European-South Carolina hybrid. The work is hard, and Austin makes it clear that having the additional officer in the house takes the support of his whole family. Together, Austin and Fox have to work weird hours, often doing dangerous police work, but his family understands that it’s all just a part of a job he loves, and they love Fox like any family pet. At around 5-8 years old (depending on when he slows down), when this everyday hero retires, he’ll spend the rest of his days at home, a beloved pet to Officer Austin and his family – albeit one who knows a few extra tricks. may/june 2008 | Greenville maGazine 21

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Greenville Magazine - June 2008

Greenville Magazine - June 2008 Contents From the Publisher My Greenville Everyday Heroes Tackling Diversity Greenville’s Gone Global In The Lead From the Pros Anderson Suburban Sprawl Wellness The REAL State of Real Estate Something to Bark About Minority-owned Business A Look Back 1-Tank Trips Private School Resource Guide After Hours The Bulletin Around Town Viewpoints

Greenville Magazine - June 2008

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