The room full of people gathered at Northbrook Village Hall broke into applause for the Northbrook Police Department’s recently-retired police dog.
Canine Jack responded with strenuous barks.
“He always reacts that way to applause,” said his partner, Officer Jon Salmi. “That’s just his personality.”
But during all the noise, Jack did something else: he positioned his body next to his partner, to make sure all those applauding people didn’t pull anything on his pal.
That’s his training, Salmi said. He’s used to being on the “point of the spear,” the first officer in, during many dangerous situations, and others where there’s too much unknown.
In nine years on the job, police say Jack has found 34 kilos of illegal drugs, uncovered $429,000 in cash, helped search over 300 vehicles, tracked 80 suspects or missing persons and entertained at 50 block parties.
It costs about $14,000 for Northbrook to put a new dog on the street, including the cost of the dog, and initial training for the dog and its partner, according to the department. It’s easily worth it, Salmi said.
“There are some people who are not afraid of us, but they don’t want to deal with the dog,” Salmi said.
He said Jack has saved the lives of lost people and protected officers and citizens.
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“If he saved one life, it would be worth it,” he said.
Jack is a Belgian malinois, a breed that has some advantages over the typically used German shepherd, Salmi said.
Shepherds are better problem solvers, but malinois are “smaller, much faster, able to work through the heat a little better, and don’t have the propensity to hip and back problems that the shepherds do,” he said.
Jack has his own physical limitations. He contracted spondylitis — fused vertebrae — and it wouldn’t be fair to make him work, Salmi said, though he dearly loves his job, which he considers a game.
“I wish I could explain the bond that Jack and I have after all these years working together,” Salmi said. “There’s a very special brotherhood between (police dogs) and handlers.”
Jack retired a few months ago, but still lives with Salmi and his family. He has been replaced on the police force by Pongo, a young shepherd handled by Officer Dave Humphries, who came on the job two years ago.
“I really love it,” Humphries said. “I want to do it as long as I can.”
Pongo, like Jack, will be a law enforcement asset unique on the department, Salmi said.
“A dog is the one tool we have that after we send it, we can recall it,” he said. “It’s not like a bullet. No matter how much we want to put a bullet back in the barrel, we can’t get it back.”
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