K-9 narcotics dog Jordy to start on patrol next week

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

Jordy, the Charles City Police Department’s new K-9 narcotics dog, will be back in Charles City and on patrol for the first time starting next week.

Jordy replaces Midnight, Charles City’s previous K-9, who retired last year because of medical issues.

The community has shown much support for Jordy, a lanky Dutch shepherd who has been trained to be proficient in the detection of narcotics and marijuana.

“We’ve had a lot of very generous donations to make this entire thing possible,” said Charles City Police Chief Hugh Anderson. “We’re ecstatic about the money and the way the community pulled together.”

Before Jordy can make any public appearances around town, he’ll need to continue to train and get more acquainted with K-9 officer Dario Gamino, who will be his handler. The pair will become inseparable once Jordy’s training is complete.

Gamino trains with Jordy down at Midwest K-9 in Des Moines where they bond and foster a close relationship. Jordy will shuttle back and forth between Des Moines and Charles City until both the training center and the Charles City Police Department deem Jordy ready to remain here in Charles City for good. Jordy trains 16 hours a month.

“He’s almost finished with his initial training,” said Anderson.

The total cost associated with the purchase of Jordy is more than $12,000 — almost $5,000 of that relating to outfitting a squad car so Jordy can ride along in the back seat while on patrol.

“We have enough to pay for Jordy. We’ve gotten enough to pay for the unit that he is going to ride inside the squad car which protects him,” said Anderson.

There will also be ongoing costs associated with Jordy like food and medical care. Theisen’s has helped out with some of the cost in feeding Jordy and Avenue of the Saints Animal Hospital is helping with veterinary care.

Anderson also said there are costs associated with kenneling and other various expenses that come with taking care of a highly-specialized dog such as Jordy that is trained to execute search warrants and sniff out drugs.

“We’ve had everything from literally little tiny kids handing their change to our school resource officer to businesses donating and everybody in between,” said Anderson.

Anderson talked about the two main aspects of this drive to bring Jordy to the community. Anderson said the first is through the generosity of members of the community to get behind the program.

“The other reason is we’re just tired of the drug use and what it brings to town,” he said.