For Osage Nation Police Officer Jacob Branscum, a man’s best friend is also his greatest protector. Meet Arc, the ONPD’s K9 narcotics dog.
Arc, short for his Belgian name of Arrak, will be four years old this summer. He is a Belgian Malinois that is trained to search for methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and marijuana. Arc can track, locate, apprehend, and bite on command. He will also receive a bullet and stab protective vest in 8 to 10 weeks, thanks to a charitable donation from a nonprofit organization called Vested Interest in K9s, Inc.
“Our relationship is really important, we have a good bond together. He’s a ball of fire, they’re real hyper-energetic dogs, but he’s also friendly. Even though he can bite on command, at the same time he could walk up to the same person and let that person pet him,” Branscum said. “He’s master level obedience. He can sit, stay, lay, crawl across the ground in case we’re trying to hide. I can give him hand signals to sit, stay, lay or crawl. If I send him to bite a bad guy, and the guy lays down and surrenders, I can call him off and he won’t bite.”
The son of a four-time KNPV Champion, the Netherlands top police dog competition, Arc was trained in Belgium but responds to all commands in English, except for the command for bite, Branscum said. He is cross-deputized and rides across the Osage reservation in the back of Branscumb’s Tahoe every night. Arc and Branscum took a 120-hour handler’s course to earn their State of Oklahoma CLEET CDS Detector K9 Team License.
“Most of the time I get called out for the County. When I stop a car on a routine traffic violation, my lights will kick on and Arc will start barking,” Branscum said. “I always have the windows down and everybody can hear him bark. He’s 120 pounds and he shakes my Tahoe pretty good.”
Branscum, who used to work for the Skiatook Police Department, said offenders would run from him all the time before he got Arc. But since he’s had Arc, no one has run from him. The ONPD received Arc in 2015.
The only time Branscum would put the body armor on Arc would be in a dangerous situation where Arc could be shot or stabbed, he said.
“When I’m in pursuit of a suspect, a felony pursuit, I hop out of my vehicle and he bails out with me,” Branscum said. “County has called me before, they had a felony warrant on someone, or they had multiple felony warrants on someone. We’ll get to the scene and I’ll go to the back, and if they take off out the back door the dog’s gone, going to get him.”
Leah Beale
Arc’s vest is sponsored by Leah Beale of Oklahoma City, according to a prepared release. The vest will be embroidered with “In memory of K9 Kye, Oklahoma City, OK.”
Vested Interest in K9s is open to dogs actively employed in the U.S. with law enforcement or related agencies who are certified and at least 20 months of age, according to the release. The donation to provide one protective vest for a law enforcement K9 is $1,050. Each vest has a value between $1,795 to $2,234 and a five-year warranty, and an average weight of 4 to 5 pounds, according to the release. There are an estimated 30,000 law enforcement K9s throughout the United States.
For more information or to learn about volunteer opportunities, please call 508-824-6978. Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. provides information, lists events, and accepts tax-deductible donations of any denomination at www.vik9s.org or mailed to P.O. Box 9 East Taunton, MA 02718.
By
Shannon Shaw Duty
Original Publish Date: 2017-05-10 00:00:00
