When a medical condition forced Arlington Heights police officer Kevin Sullivan’s partner of nearly a decade into an early retirement, the abrupt end to their shared daily law enforcement duties was nothing short of devastating for both of them.
“She just looked at me like, ‘Really?'” said Sullivan, recalling the first day he headed off to his job as a K-9 officer without his partner Layka, a 13-year-old Belgian Malinois.
Layka, who joined the department in 2007 as its first police K-9, was recently diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.
Not unlike a successful and driven professional who finds herself feeling lost and restless after retiring, Layka’s action-packed life at the police department suddenly was replaced with afternoon naps and long, leisurely walks around the neighborhood, Sullivan said.
“It’s going to be a hard transition for her, but I’m hoping Layka has a long retirement ahead with my family at our home,” Sullivan said. “I’m praying for her mental state because when police K-9s retire, the majority don’t last very long because they lose their drive and become depressed.”
While Layka was supposed to retire in August, her veterinarian ordered numerous tests after Layka suffered a seizure last month and detected the brain tumor that put an immediate halt to the dog’s career in law enforcement, he said.
On March 20, Arlington Heights police, dozens of northwest suburban police K-9 officers and their dogs all joined forces at village hall to honor Layka at a retirement ceremony, which included an official proclamation from Arlington Heights Mayor Thomas Hayes.
Layka, who was born in the Netherlands on Jan. 4, 2004, immigrated to the U.S. and became the village’s first police K-9 in August 2007, assigned badge number 268K, Hayes said.
During her nearly ten years of service with the police department, Layka recovered more than $1 million in unlawful controlled substances and $1 million in criminal assets, Hayes said.
“Layka has proven to be popular with the public, having demonstrated her abilities in over 300 public presentations,” Hayes said.
He recalled how Layka used “her phenomenal tracking abilities” to locate numerous wanted suspects and also missing persons during her tenure with Arlington Heights police.
Arlington Heights Police Chief Gerald Mourning, who launched the village’s K-9 program in 2007, remembered Layka helping apprehend a suspect charged with attempted murder by successfully tracking the offender “at night, in rainy weather,” he said.
In another case, Layka led police to a suspect, who was charged with residential burglary, after locating the man hiding in a backyard and underneath a tarp, Mourning said.
“We consider her a member of the department. … She even attended roll calls, so it’s hard to see her leave after nine-and-a-half years of service,” Mourning said.
The village currently has three K-9 police dogs, who each cover an eight-hour shift for the K-9 unit at the department after undergoing “rigorous training” with K-9 officers, said Arlington Heights Deputy Police Chief Andrew Whowell.
“We had a huge contingency of K-9 officers at Layka’s retirement ceremony because she served not only Arlington Heights, but other departments through our mutual aid agreement,” Whowell said. “The K-9 officers are a really close-knit family, and they all came out to support Layka.”
Sullivan said he had dogs as pets while growing up, but his past experience did not prepare him for Layka’s intrepid and intelligent personality.
“These dogs are bred and trained for service work, so you would probably not want to purchase a Belgian Malinois for a household pet, unless you want a dog that is more like a Tasmanian Devil,” he said.
Aside from the initial seizure Layka suffered last month, Sullivan said she has not displayed any other symptoms of illness.
The police dog now is settling into her new role as “a relaxed household pet,” he said.
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“When I was out at the kennel in Indiana in 2007, looking for a police K-9, I didn’t pick out Layka. She picked me,” Sullivan recalled. “She walked over to me, jumped up, and put her paws on me, and that was it.”
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