Hometown Heroes Law Enforcement 2019

“The standards are very high,” Harvey said. Harvey said he hoped the effort he and Cobalt made would bring recognition to Rutland, as the city’s police department will have a K9 with national certifi cation as well as state certifi cation. “Vermont has its own certifi cations so we don’t have to do it. It’s just something I wanted to do for the extra challenge,” he said. Harvey said he and Cobalt have spent the last year training to earn the national certifi cation. “What we did is similar to the Vermont certifi cation, but the way we do it is different. The commands are said differently and the standards are a bit higher, so I had to dial in some things. I had to teach him some different things,” Harvey said. The new skills weren’t as challenging as teaching Cobalt how to do some tasks differently, Harvey added. King Cobalt is a German shepherd from Slovakia who has been with the RCPD since 2017. Neither Harvey nor Cobalt have had a different partner. “He’s very loyal. He’ll follow me all around the house. Won’t let me out of his sight if he can. He’s got a ton of drive to work. Work is his favorite thing to do... That and play ball,” Harvey said. Cobalt is certifi ed to fi nd drugs or search for people who could be in need of rescue. The most important skill a K9 brings to a police department is its ability to locate things, including drugs, suspects or bombs, depending on the dog’s training. “They can fi nd what we can’t see. It helps keep the community safe, because if you can’t see the bad things, like bad people or drugs or whatever it might be, then how can we get them off the street? How can we stop them from doing what they’re doing if RUTLAND CITY POLICE OFFICER NATHAN HARVEY AND K9 KING COBALT WALK INTO THE CENTER STREET MARKETPLACE IN DOWNTOWN RUTLAND. we can’t fi nd them? Dogs have the ability to fi nd them,” he said. K9s are also ambassadors for their departments, popular with the community and especially kids. “They’re a public-relations tool, big time,” Harvey said. Harvey said he has been working with King Cobalt on developing their skills as a team because he “loves K9 stuff.” While there are several K9 units in Rutland County, Harvey said he and Cobalt might be deployed 20 times during a busy month or fi ve times during a more quiet month. ŽŶǀĞŶŝĞŶƚDĞĚŝĐĂůĂƌĞ &D/>zWZd/ͲWd/E'EtWd/Ed^ Primary Care Amy Corey • Mini med spa • Facial rejuvenation • Botox • PDO Threading Pete Kristen ¦¡¦¡ £¡©ဘ ϮϱE͘DĂŝŶ^ƚƌĞĞƚ͕ZƵƚůĂŶĚ͕sdϬϱϳϬϭͮϴϬϮ͘ϳϳϱ͘ϴϬϯϮͻ&ĂǆϴϬϮϳϳϱ͘ϯϬϱϴ RUTLAND HERALD HOMETOWN HEROES JULY 2019 • 13

Hometown Heroes Law Enforcement 2019 | Page 13