Santa Cruz Police Department swears in new K-9

Santa Cruz has a new officer on the streets, one with four legs.

K-9 Ryder, a Belgian Malinois, was sworn in to the department Friday morning and will be working with Officer Ben Whaley.

A family from Santa Cruz donated money to the police department for them to purchase Ryder.

Chief Andy Mills says Ryder will specialize in tracking, but also help in other areas out in the field. “From SWAT entry to missing persons, the K-9’s do it all.”

“The main thing he’ll be responsible for is tracking. For instance, if there’s a lost child, we can do a particle search track. Or if there’s a wanted person, this dog will be hot on the trail in helping locate this person. Then also defending, part of his job is to defend our officers and to help us deescalate situations. People change their tune when that dog becomes present so it’s just a wonderful opportunity.” Chief Mills said.

Officer Whaley and Ryder have already undergone months of training, but will continue to train on a weekly or monthly basis.

K9 Ryder is now one of two K-9’s in the department, next to K-9 Luna.

Chief Mills said they hope to get more K-9’s in the future. “They’re an amazing tool for our police department. We’d love to get more dogs because the more dogs we have, I honestly believe the more dogs we have will equate to lesser uses of force and the ability to deescalate situations. So a goal for us in the future is to put more dogs out in the field and have one always available on duty.”