PHOTO BY JENNA FRISBY / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
SHOWING OFF HIS SKILLS … Pioneer Police Department’s K9 Vader and handling Officer Mills joined kids from the community on Monday at Crommer Park for a Meet and Greet with K9 Vader. The event was hosted by the Pioneer Branch Library and provided the kids the opportunity to not only learn about K9 Vader but also to pet him, play “Chuck-It”, and see a real-life demonstration of what he would do in event a dangerous suspect refuses to comply with officer commands.
By: Jenna Frisby
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jenna@thevillagereporter.com
The Pioneer Branch Library hosted a free Meet and Greet for kids to meet K9 Vader at Crommer Park on Monday, June 10th from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. K9 Vader is Pioneer Police Department’s K9 officer.
K9 Vader is a Belgian Malinois who is 2.5 years old and has been on staff with the Pioneer PD since February of 2023.
His handler is Officer Randy Mills who has been on staff since April of 2022. However, Mills has 22 years of experience in law enforcement dating back to 2002 when he enlisted in the military and was assigned to the Military Police Corps.
Officer Mills and Vader have been working as a team since late 2022. Officer Mills started the Meet and Greet by giving some information about Vader from what his daily life looks like to what kinds of things he can do.
Vader is certified as a dual-purpose dog both Nationally and in the State of Ohio. This means Vader has trained in tracking, narcotics detection, obedience, and handler protection.
Already Vader has made an impact in the community by getting drugs off the streets and aiding his handler in other areas.
After a brief history, Officer Mills took a few questions from the kids and then brought Vader out of their cruiser to meet the kids. Vader was very mellow and even sat through the experience of having nearly all 25 kids pet him.
If meeting him wasn’t exciting enough, Officer Mills then showed the kids how Vader plays fetch with his “Chuck-It” toy.
After showing how well Vader retrieves and can find the ball, Officer Mills then invited each of the kids to use the “Chuck-It” and toss a ball for Vader to retrieve.
Lastly, Officer Mills wanted to show the kids how in a potentially dangerous situation Vader could go from mellow and playful to protecting. At that time, Niki MacKinnon volunteered to help in the demonstration and went and put on a dog bite sleeve.
Officer Mills had her standoff at a distance and instructed her to start shouting and to be as loud as she could. As she started yelling and shouting, Vader’s attention was grabbed.
As Officer Mills held Vader back, he yelled basic commands and warnings to MacKinnon as if she were a real suspect. After giving commands to stop and several warnings that he would release his dog, Officer Mills released Vader who took off towards MacKinnon.
Vader did exactly his job and bit down on the arm sleeve and did not let go. In fact, MacKinnon was the one who let the sleeve slide off after fighting K9 Vader for a few moments.
Officer Mills continued to share with the kids that Vader would not let go until he gave him the command to do so.
K9 Vader and his handler Officer Mills gave the kids more than just an informative event, they gave them an experience to see the work they do every day together to make their community a safer place for all of us.
It definitely left a lasting impact in the kids’ lives as they got to pet K9 Vader and know he’s there to help, and then to get to see him in a potential real situation and the work that he would do to keep the community safe in helping disarm a potential suspect.
