My career with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department began on December 2, 1987 and my first assignments included working custody at the Main Jail, the Rio Consumnes Correctional Center and the Work Release program.  I transferred to patrol in 1994 and primarily worked in the South Sacramento area.  Between February 1, 1999 and June 30, 2004 I had the honor of working as a Canine Handler with the sheriff’s department.

Upon starting with the canine unit, I purchased my first canine partner ‘Solo’.  He and I trained together, became certified together and we worked as a team in the field for about six months before the department decided to change the canine deployment policy.  The department felt that it would in the best interest of everyone to start with all new county-purchased canines. I sold Solo to the Lodi Police Department and he has gone on to have an outstanding career.

September 19, 1999 is when I picked up my new canine partner ‘Brando’ from the airport.  Brando was a German Shepherd born 5,900 miles away in the Czech Republic.  Brando had no police training at the time.  I spent the next four months training him in the areas of obedience, agility, protection, tracking and building and area searches.  It was February of 2000 when Brando became certified to work as a Sheriff’s canine.  On Brando’s very first night at work, he located and captured a suspect wanted for suspicion of vehicle theft. 

Brando was known for his ability to locate wanted suspects quickly.  One very foggy November night, Brando and I were called to assist patrol officers in searching for a suspect.  It was so foggy that you could only see about 20 to 30 feet in any direction.  Brando was searching out ahead of me when I heard him start to bark.  I knew that he had found the guy we were looking for, but while I could hear his bark, he was not visible in the heavy fog.  I moved toward the sound of his barking as quickly and safely as possible, but before I could get to him the barking stopped.  I tried calling out to him, but he didn’t respond.  When I finally found Brando, he was about 100 yards from where I had last heard his barking.  He had the suspect pinned face down in the middle of the street, was holding onto the back of the coat collar and was dragging him around on the street.  The bad guy was crying and begging me to get Brando off of him.

Another time that Brando and I were called upon for assistance was when a subject had run from the officers, after he had been seen driving a stolen car.  Brando found him hiding in a pile of garbage.  The suspect quickly stood up and surrendered to me.  I told Brando to hold his ground and ordered the subject to put his hands behind his back.  Suddenly, the suspect started to run away, into some nearby bushes, in an attempt to escape form me.  Brando and I ran around the bushes and when the suspect emerged, Brando grabbed him.  The fight was on at that point.  The suspect began to punch and kick Brando, so I grabbed a from behind and tried to take him to the ground.  As I did this the suspect pulled away from me, twisting my shoulder out of the socket and tearing my chest muscle completely off of the bone.  The pain I felt at that point was so bad that I nearly passed out.  I called for help on the radio while Brando continued to fight with the suspect, protecting me in the process.  When help arrived, it took eight officers to over-power the suspect.  I credit Brando with capturing this wanted felon and saving my life, that night.

After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the Sheriff wanted the canine unit to have trained bomb dogs.  Brando and I were picked, along with two other handlers, to begin cross-training with our partners for bomb detection.  Some of the training locations included Arco Arena (Home of the Sacramento Kings) along with places around San Francisco and Oakland.

Brando also became certified as a SWAT Canine and was used in conjunction with our SWAT team on several occasions.

In the summer of 2003, Brando was diagnosed with Lupus.  As a result, he was placed on medication, but continued to work as an effective police dog.  Unfortunately, the illness caused Brando to begin slowing down and the work ultimately became too difficult for him to do.  I worked closely with several veterinarians in the area, trying to improve his condition, but it finally became necessary for Brando to retire from police work. 

Brando now lives at my home as a member of our family. He loves to play with my two sons in our large backyard.  He also enjoys playing with Molly, who is our Border Collie and Brando’s pal.  Since Brando’s retirement, I’ve had other assignments, working in the contract city of Elk Grove, both as a patrol officer and as a motorcycle officer. My most resent assignment has been with the Sheriff’s High Impact Motor Unit and I have been recently promoted to the rank of sergeant.  When I come home from a long shift, Brando is always there to greet me and I know he misses the days when we used to go to work together.  Any officer would be lucky to have such a partner as I have had in Brando.  I always knew that he would give me 100% in any situation.  That’s all any cop could ask from a partner.