I began my career with the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department in 1980. I completed assignments the Airport, Branch Jail, Main Jail, Work Release and Work Furlough facilities.

Once in patrol services I was involved in a stressful and interesting time for local law enforcement. We had a huge influx of gang members from Los Angeles and we often dealt with four to five shootings a night in my patrol area as well as many vehicle pursuits. During this time I assisted with the “Good Guys” incident. I served as a Field Training Officer from 1990 to 1999 and was proud to train over one hundred newly hired officers during this time frame.

Early in my career I volunteered as an agitator for the department’s canine handlers and became interested in the canine detail.

In 1999, I tested for and was accepted to the Sheriff’s Department Canine Enforcement Detail. Once I arrived, I discovered this aspect of law enforcement was my true calling.

I arrived at the perfect time, as the detail was going through a transition of the type of deployment model and canine to be used for patrol duties. The entire detail was removed from street duty for several months and we attended a train the trainer canine school.  This was ideal for me as a new handler.

In December of 1999 I certified as a canine team with my canine partner, Kuma. Kuma and I worked together until the winter of 2005 and we had hundreds of criminal apprehensions together. In the winter of 2005 the division received funding for new canines and I had to retire Kuma a year early.
Kuma was very upset at being retired early and taught himself how to open doors. I caught him several times chasing my canine car down the road with my new dog inside.

During his off time Kuma loves to play with my wife who is also a Deputy Sheriff, and with my son and daughter. He loves to play ball, swim with the family in our pool and play with our other dogs.

I initially replaced Kuma with a small black German Shepard by the name of Ike. After training Ike and working him successfully on the road for several months Deputy Ian Carver asked me to trade dogs with him. Ike reminded Ian of his retired dog and soon the trade was on.

My new dog is an 18 month old Dutch Shepard who has more energy than seems possible. Renzo is a very motivated working dog who has unbelievable search and tracking drive. He is very athletic and loves to play with my other dogs although he is just a little afraid of Kuma. Renzo is a true water dog as you can tell by looking at my team photos. One photo shows a nice launch into the water on training day. Renzo will swim all day in my pool if I let him and the family loves him.

I love working in a small close knit detail and have never worked with a finer group of officers than all of the officers I have worked with over the last seven years. I am proud to be a member of the Sheriff’s Department Canine Detail.