Troopers looking for four-footed assistantAlaska State Trooper Scott Johnson and K-9 trooper Comco pose by their cruiser. Assigned to the Fairbanks post, Johnson is the trooper K-9 training coordinator.</MCC HEAD>

Story last updated at 2:23 p.m. Thursday, November 20, 2003

Troopers looking for four-footed assistantAlaska State Trooper Scott Johnson and K-9 trooper Comco pose by their cruiser. Assigned to the Fairbanks post, Johnson is the trooper K-9 training coordinator.
by Michael Armstrong
Staff Writer

Photo provided by Alaska State Troopers
Alaska State Trooper Scott Johnson and K-9 trooper Comco pose by thier cruiser. Assigned to the Fairbanks post, Johnson is the trooper K-9 trainng coordinator.

It sounds like a mobster's dream. For 10 grand, you can buy your own Alaska State Trooper. Even better, lay down the cash, and you get to name the trooper. But there's a catch.

The new trooper is a dog, a K-9 officer, and it will only take commands from its human partner, Trooper Ryan Browning.

Browning, a trooper with the Homer Post of E Detachment, said this week the Homer area needs a dual-purpose dog, a trained police dog that can do search and rescue, and tracking and apprehension.

"A dog would be outstanding in a lot of the burglaries we have," Browning said.

The troopers are seeking to raise money through pledges for the $10,000 cost of buying a police dog and bringing it to Alaska. Once the dog arrives most likely a Belgian Malinois, Browning said Browning would take 10 weeks of training in Anchorage to learn to handle the dog. When he and his new partner finish training, the K-9 officer would live with Browning and he'd take care of food and veterinary bills.

Browning said the Kenai Peninsula has only one K-9 officer, Kazan, assigned to Trooper Brad Nelson with the Soldotna post. Kazan recently broke his jaw in training and is out of commission, Browning said. The nearest K-9 trooper is Nissan with the Girdwood post. If the troopers need a dog in Homer, it would have to be driven or flown down.

A K-9 trooper could serve a lot of roles, Browning said. Trained to track and pick up scents, a dog can locate lost children, as was needed recently when a little girl wandered away from her Anchor Point home. K-9 troopers can also track suspects who have fled into woods or buildings, and then apprehend them. They can protect their handlers in contacting suspects. And they can sniff out marijuana, cocaine or other suspect drugs.

"There's more work for a K-9 handler than anywhere else on the peninsula," Browning said.

Purchasing a dog isn't definite, he said. Right now the troopers are looking for pledges. If enough pledges can be raised, the Homer post will ask for command approval to buy the dog and arrange for Browning's training. Browning said the person, business or group donating the most money gets naming rights, a good way to get some free publicity, he said, such as when the K-9 trooper gets mentioned in a press release.

Browning asked anyone interested in pledging support to call him at the Homer Post, 235-8239.

Michael Armstrong can be reached at michaela@homernews.com.

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