Arnold Police K-9 team medals in Olympics

  • Published
  • By Shawn Jacobs
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  The Arnold Police Department's K-9 team, Bikkel and his handler Officer Jason Layne, was among the top finishers at the American Working Dog Police Academy Olympics.

The Olympics are held annually at Vohne Liche Kennels in Denver, Ind. More than 100 local, state and federal agencies had teams at this year's event, which was held Aug, 23-27.

Layne and Bikkel, a 4-year-old male Belgian Malinios, placed first in vehicle exterior search and vehicle interior search. The team won second place in the open area search and third place in an event called the scramble.

"The scramble consists of probably a two-acre parking lot that had probably 500 ... just miscellaneous small items scattered out everywhere," Layne said. "They told us we had, I believe, eight minutes to conduct your search on the whole parking lot."

Layne said it was his first time to compete with Bikkel. His first time at the Olympics, in 2008, he won two second place awards with Aerospace Testing Alliance's (ATA) previous dog, Astrid.

In addition to the competition, the Olympics also allowed Layne and Bikkel to be certified in odor detection, man tracking and Patrol Level One (bite work and apprehension).

"When we compete, we get to actually recertify, so we're actually saving the company and Air Force lot of money [by combining two events into one] ... so we stay above the standards here."

Arnold Police Chief Rick Trull said he is very proud of all of the K-9 team's accomplishments.

"The important part of this, I think, for us is that Jason and Bikkel's primary work is on vehicle searches," Trull said. "You often see them at the gates searching commercial vehicles when they come through, and the fact that the team took first place in exterior and interior vehicle searches just goes to show that the training and work they do every day is good quality work.

"He didn't just go to a competition; he also received recertification. That's important because it helps us in court, it helps in the state, but the certifications that the team has are required by law."

Trull also had praise for the training the dogs received at the kennels.

"We received both of the dogs that Jason talked about from Vohne Liche Kennels, and we need to give credit where credit is due," Trull said. They do some of the best training that I've ever seen in my career."

In addition, Layne and Bikkel train a minimum of 16 hours per month. This training is in conjunction with the state of Tennessee, where David Frost provides professional training, advice, and state certification, according to Trull.

As Layne's supervisor, Don Miller, Arnold assistant police chief and chief of operations, likes what he sees from the AEDC K-9 unit.

"I've worked with K-9s before in the military and what I've seen from Jason and the dogs ... it's by far the best program I've seen outside the military. The training is above what the military gives their dogs."

Trull called the K-9 unit "absolutely critical to the mission, to the work that we do here. They've been tremendously helpful to our antiterrorism program and to the police work that we do on a day-to-day basis.

"We've had great support from ATA and from the base, which makes it possible to attend this venue where our team can get recertified. It's a great effort from everyone who's involved."