• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Print Article
• Increase Font Size
• Decrease Font Size

GREECE -- By this time in December, a brand-new Greece po­lice offi­cer will be out on the streets.But in­stead of wearing a blue uniform, Hunter the K-9 will be all decked out in his warm brown fur and will sport his badge not on his shirt, but on a tag on his collar.

Hunter, an 18-month-old German shepherd, is the be­ginning of a new era for the Greece Po­lice De­part­ment. He is the first K-9 in the de­part­ment for more than a decade, since the program was cut because of bud­get consid­erations.

In July, the Town Board approved adding the K-9 unit at the request of Po­lice Chief Todd Baxter. The board also approved accepting the do­nated dog from local breed­er Car­ol Zona.

"Law enforce­ment agencies through­out the world have long rec­ognized the val­ue of prop­erly trained po­lice ser­vice dogs," said Baxter. "As we con­tinue to tran­sition the Greece Po­lice De­part­ment into one of the world's most pro­fes­sion­al de­part­ments, we must pro­vide our offi­cers with the essential tools of the trade."

In Au­gust, Baxter an­nounced the de­part­ment would name the dog "Hunter" in hon­or of 7-year-old Hunter Resch, who was killed in February 2010 by his fa­ther Mark Resch, who then took his own life.

Hunter's partner is Offi­cer Sam Ross, who has been with the Greece Po­lice De­part­ment since 2005."Offi­cer Ross was cho­sen as our han­dler because he has the attributes we were looking for," said Baxter. "He always han­dles his po­lice duties in a pro­fes­sion­al manner, is self-motivated and self-discip­lined, he does not exhib­it a pitch to­ward unnec­essary force, and his conduct is always becom­ing of a Greece po­lice offi­cer."

Baxter said Hunter came high­ly rec­ommended by State Troop­er Christo­pher Neidert, a K-9 han­dler."Hunter has all the pre­req­ui­sites to be a great po­lice ser­vice dog: good tempera­ment, displays courage, and he is responsive to the dog han­dler's di­rections," he said.

Ross and Hunter have been constant compan­ions since early Au­gust, with the po­lice dog now sharing Ross' home, too."I just wish he got along a lit­tle better with my Lab, Kais­er," he said.

Untrained, Hunter has spent the past month learning some simple commands."So far, I've just been teach­ing him some ba­sic obe­di­ence and some commands," said Ross.

And they're both getting their exercise."We run quite a bit," said Ross. "On an av­erage day, I spend about two hours with train­ing, exercis­ing, walking and help­ing him socialize with dogs and oth­er people."

But on Monday, the pair will start an intensive 14-week train­ing program that covers obe­di­ence, tracking and apprehen­sion. They'll also train in "bite work" to as­sist in stopping suspects.

"Then, in March, we'll go back for more train­ing in drug work," said Ross. Hunter will learn to sniff out marijua­na, cocaine, hero­in and oth­er illicit sub­stances.

When he's fully trained, Hunter will help Greece po­lice with building searches, suspect apprehen­sion, secu­rity checks, tracking suspects from crime scenes and search­ing for drugs.

His train­ing, equip­ment and upkeep will primarily be paid for through drug seizure mon­ey.Ross, 31, of Ontar­io, Wayne County, is a 1998 graduate of Webster Schroed­er High School. He's been looking out for his community since he was 18 and became an emergency med­ical technician with the Union Hill and Penfield fire de­part­ments.

Al­though he went to the State Uni­versity Col­lege at Alfred to earn his degree in electrical en­g­i­neering, he felt the call of po­lice work."I enjoy working with the community and wanted some­thing where I'd have the ability to make a differ­ence in my community," he said.

To that end, Ross is a for­mer Union Hill Fire De­part­ment deputy chief, and worked for two years with the state Park Po­lice, patrolling parks in Long Is­land and Hamlin. He's been a crime scene technician in Greece since 2007 and has been the de­part­ment's fin­gerprint exam­iner and a school resource offi­cer at Greece Arca­dia High School. He's excited to be part of Greece's new crime-fight­ing team.

"I've always enjoyed working with dogs," he said.As partners, Hunter and Ross will ride togeth­er in a dog-customized K-9 patrol car. They'll live togeth­er while Hunter's on the job, and when it's time for Hunter to re­tire -- po­lice dogs generally work for about sev­en years -- he'll re­tire to Ross' home.

Ross is also looking forward to his upcom­ing train­ing."We're spending so much time togeth­er already, he fol­lows me wher­ev­er I go. We're go­ing to start with eight-hour days of obe­di­ence train­ing ... this will be new for both of us."

MC­DERMOT@DemocratandChron­icle.com