Thanks to a generous donation, Eatonton Police Department now has its own K9 officer.
“Tik”, a German shepherd-malinois mix, now serves full-time on the city’s police force with his handler, Officer Jeremy McClure.
“If I’m on duty, Tik is on duty,” McClure said.
“I’ve always wanted a narcotics dog,” Police Chief Howell Cardwell added. “Drugs are just destroying our community. Destroying it. Every crime we deal with has got something to do with drugs.”
When Cardwell was called by Michele Bechtell, whose parents formed the Dolores and Homer Bechtell Charitable Fund, and asked what the police department needed, Cardwell said he first told her they needed bulletproof vests.
“Mom and I discussed it and I told her that I could tell Chief Cardwell’s first concern was his guys’ bulletproof vests,” Bechtell said. “But we wanted to get the dog, so we decided to do both.”
K9 Tik was flown to Georgia from Poland a little more than a month ago.
McClure proudly showed The Eatonton Messenger
Tik’s passport and noted the foreign languages on the pages.
“It was awesome,” McClure said of his first time meeting Tik. “He was very friendly and he loves getting attention, playing and getting hugs.”
After his arrival, Tik underwent more training with Marsha Peavy, who also trained Putnam County Sheriff’s Office’s K9s. With his training completed, Tik and McClure both attained their certification in drug detection and tracking from the Georgia Sheriff’s Association.
Tik’s specialty is locating cocaine, heroine, methamphetamine, marijuana, and all their derivatives, such as PCP and “Molly.”
CONTRIBUTED
Tik arrived by plane from Poland to Georgia with this passport.
“If it’s a drug that contains any of those big four, he’ll go ahead and alert,” McClure said proudly.
“He’s also a tracker, so he can track down people whether it’s an Alzheimer’s patient, a missing kid, or somebody that’s running from us.”
Tik was introduced to Eatonton City Council members at their monthly meeting Monday night.
McClure said they’d both been through 12½ hours of training that day, and Tik was ready to go home for his play time. So, he was entertainingly energetic and livened up the city council meeting, which seemed to delight the members.
Cardwell explained to the council that the bulletproof vests expire every five years and most of the officers’ vests “are approaching that brink.” He presented Michele Bechtell, who said her mother recently moved to South Carolina, with a manilla envelope filled with letters from each police officer thanking Dolores Bechtell for her donation to provide the updated vests and the K9.
“The letters are so moving,” Michele Bechtell said Tuesday. “We very much want the focus to be on our dedicated officers and all they do for our community. (They are) the heroes.”
Michele Bechtell also read a statement from herself and her mother to the city council members.
“Through the Dolores and Homer Bechtell Charitable Fund, our family expresses profound gratitude for the first responders in the city of Eatonton and Putnam County who protect and enhance the quality of life for residents and those passing through our community.
“We hope that this gift may inspire others to actively support these dedicated men and women and their families and now the new K9 officer, man’s best friend, in all their endeavors.”