After minor training injury, Jordy is on the job

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Be aware, bad guys. Jordy is walking the beat.

The Charles City Police Department’s new K-9 narcotics dog has been on duty for about a week, since last Thursday.

Charles City Police Chief Hugh Anderson said the newest member of the force and his drug-sniffing nose were called out to Floyd by sheriff’s deputies Tuesday evening, and he’s done two or three drug searches in Charles City already.

Joining the force wasn’t without incident, however.

“We were a little disappointed, because before he even got on the street he took workman’s comp,” Anderson laughed.

Anderson said that during training Jordy jumped a chain-link fence, and in the process caught a paw on one of the top bars where the chain sticks up. The rookie miscalculation resulted in the dog tearing open a pad on his foot.

“He was off for a while recuperating from that,” said Anderson, who added that the lanky Dutch shepherd seems to be a quick healer.

“We’ll see how it goes from here, but yeah, that’s actually pretty exciting,” he said about Jordy being officially on the job.

“He’s finally earning his food,” Anderson said.

Jordy did his training with K-9 officer Dario Gamino, who is his handler. Gamino trained with Jordy  at Midwest K-9 in Des Moines, where they bonded and fostered a close relationship. The two will continue to train an additional 16 hours every month.

The dog is proficient in the detection of narcotics and marijuana. He replaces Midnight, Charles City’s previous K-9, a black lab mix who retired in 2017 because of medical issues after eight years on duty.

When the Police Department announced the acquisition of Jordy last summer, it inspired a big community effort to help bring him home, with several local businesses and individuals chipping in money.

“The public has been amazing with their support for him,” said Anderson. “We had about 150 people donate, either through businesses or as individuals.”

The total cost associated with the purchase of Jordy was estimated at more than $12,000. The department received a grant for $3,000 and took donations and held fundraisers in hopes of covering the rest. The original fundraising goal was $14,000.

“We surpassed that very handily, which is good, because we ended up with some expenses we didn’t anticipate,” Anderson said.

Some of those expenses included the yard fence to contain Jordy and the vehicle insert which Jordy is required to ride in — both of which cost much more than initially anticipated.

“Anything you need to buy involving police, firefighters, military — it’s all overpriced, in my opinion,” Anderson said.

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 has helped with veterinary care.