Tribal police dog earns dual certification

The Nov. 3 Oregon certification of Grand Ronde Tribal Police Officer Patrick McConnell and K-9 Officer Nixwa completed the pair’s credentials at both the national and state levels.

Ongoing, McConnell and Nixwa require 16 hours of continued training a month. McConnell is Nixwa’s handler.

The pair received a perfect score on the performance test held in Redmond by the Oregon Police Canine Association. State level certification meets the requirement of many law enforcement agencies that they cannot call out a K-9 for assistance unless the handler and dog are OPCA certified.

The state certification requires success in a parcel search, area search, room search and vehicle search, said McConnell in an e-mail. Both trainer and dog must demonstrate proficiency.

In late April, the pair received certification from the National Police Canine Association in Tucson, Ariz. They were certified for narcotics detection and patrol apprehension.

In the world of K-9 officers, certification comes not from government entities, but from private associations.

“When we returned to Oregon,” McConnell said, “the decision was made to use Nixwa as a narcotic detection K-9 only due to a lack of resources it takes to keep up the patrol side along with the detection side.”

Maintaining certification for both narcotics detection and patrol apprehension would require 32 hours of training a month on top of McConnell’s regular work hours. 

“Because we are a small department,” he said, “we don't have the manpower to assist with all those hours, so we chose one specialty, and that was detection.”

Nixwa is trained to detect the odors of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin or any derivatives of those narcotics. He presents a passive alert, meaning he sits when he detects one or more of the odors. Since June, Nixwa has made five finds resulting in five arrests.

Polk County District Attorney Aaron Felton supports the Grand Ronde Police Department and the K-9 program, McConnell said. Felton recently sent letters to sheriffs and police chiefs in Polk and Yamhill counties to let them know about the service Nixwa can provide their agencies. None so far have taken advantage of the standing offer.

Nixwa is a 3-year-old, 83-pound Belgian Malinois. Last January, McConnell selected him from among three dogs at Adlerhorst Kennels International in Riverside, Calif. At that time, Nixwa’s name was Travis. Nixwa, a name selected by the Tribe, is a Chinuk Wawa word meaning “show me.”