I had the privilege of attending the 31st Annual Police Appreciation Awards Luncheon this past Wednesday at the Eagle’s Nest in Cypress. And when I finally recovered from the surreal moment of Ground Hog Luncheon having attended so many of these types of events, I found myself enjoying the standard chicken lunch served at these civic affairs and the gracious company of one Ginni Houck, a police aid who is assigned to the Los Alamitos Police Department’s records department.
Although seated at a rear table seemingly reserved for us media types (I also sat next to the local editor from Patch) and other malcontents, the vantage point I had of the room was perfect as I was able to get a good impression of the turnout to honor our local police officers. Although the audience was peppered with various elected officials from surrounding communities including Cypress, La Palma, etc, I was most impressed by the presence of various law enforcement personnel from other cities there to honor their brothers in arms from Los Alamitos.
However, noticeably absent from this distinguished list of dignitaries from neighboring cities and their respective police departments was the presence of a K-9 unit, a service dog and his or her handler. Although the story of Corporal Chris Anderson, recipient of the Medal of Courage was heroic, I can’t help but think one day, we could be honoring a police service dog for locating a missing child, capturing and holding a dangerous criminal until a police officer arrives, or simply bringing joy to children during a field trip. Police dogs play such an important role in some police departments that in many jurisdictions, intentionally injuring or killing a police dog is a felony.
In its history, the Los Alamitos P.D. has had three police dogs, the most recent, Oska who retired in 2005. His lone handler, Officer Don Ema resigned his position with the city to make a lateral move to the Fullerton Police Department. When he left, he was allowed to purchase his canine companion as a pet, caring for Oska until his death in 2010.
When the Los Alamitos Police Department needs the services of a K-9 unit, it reaches out to other local law enforcement agencies, most often the Cypress P.D. who currently have two K-9 officers on staff. Imagine that. Two police dogs on staff which is smart because even dogs need a friend to whom they can relate. Hey, maybe we can acquire one of them when negotiating the fate of the now infamous, yet still to be built left turn lane onto Enterprise off Katella. Or perhaps the city council should consider allocating the $141,500 from the utility users tax rebate to fund a K-9 unit for our police department and incorporate this easily justified expenditure into its budget for years to come.
Either way, it’s been eight years since the City of Los Alamitos has had a K-9 unit on its police force. And it’s long overdue. But hope remains as Los Alamitos Police Captain, Bruce McAlpine told me, “It’s not out of the realm of possibility that one day we (the LAPD) revisit the subject”.
I hope so, because one day, I look forward to honoring our four-legged police officer for some act of bravery or heroism at the Police Appreciation Luncheon, congratulating him with a few scraps off my plate. I know he’ll like chicken more than I.
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