MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Police Department welcomed two new members to its ranks Monday, but they won't need a uniform -- they'll wear collars instead.
"He's fantastic. He's a young dog, very strong and confident," Officer Todd Johnson said.
"He's only a year and a half, but he's got a super temperament, I really am lucky," Johnson continued.
Officer Johnson is referring to his partner Enox (pronounced, "N-O"). Enox and Johnson recently finished training school in Campbellsport, Wisconsin. It was there, the two really had a chance to get acquainted.
"Even though I know how to be a handler, I don't know how to be a handler with this particular dog," Johnson said.
"I have to learn his nuances, he has to learn mine, and we have to kind of learn how to be a team together," he continued.
However, the training goes beyond the partners fraternizing. Tina Roeskin is the officer assigned the other canine recruit, Kass. Officer Roeskin knows first hand just how intense the training process can be.
"It's all patrol [and] narcotics work," Roeskin said.
"Every day we do some type of narcotics work, and then the trainer, Larry, would have us do tracking or building searches," she continued.
The training allows the canine and his handler to work in tandem. Officer Roeskin said her goal when working with Kass is to support her fellow officers at the district, while making the jobs of other police officers easier and safer.
Her work as a canine handler is something she says she wouldn't trade for the world.
"This is the best job on the whole police department," Roeskin said. "[Kass] is my partner, I get to bring him to work with me everyday, I get to hang out with him everyday."
Currently there are seven K-9 officers a part of the Milwaukee Police Department. Enox and Kass are replacing Dasty and Emo, two canines who recently retired. On average a canine works for the department for about eight years before retirement.
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