Officer unleashed

Deepa Bharath

Costa Mesa Police Officer Jerry Hildeman has a new partner.

As the duo took off in their black-and-white car to patrol the

streets Wednesday night, the new guy might have been a little

nervous.

But Hildeman, 31, has no doubts that when the time comes, Robbie ,

the department’s newest addition, will sound his loudest bark.

The Belgian Malinois (pronounced MAL-in-wah), with his full-black,

shimmering coat, may have those sweet, brown eyes that probably gave

birth to the expression, “puppy-dog eyes.” But when he gets down to

business, he can instill fear and if necessary, can produce a

menacing bite.

Robbie and Hildeman have come together to form the Costa Mesa

Police Department’s brand new K-9 unit.

“I think this is going to be good,” Hildeman said on Wednesday,

before he and Robbie started their first shift. Both have gone

through six weeks of training at the Alderhorst Police-K9 Academy in

Riverside.

And Hildeman got the dog six weeks before they started training.

Sgt. Larry Hicks, who supervises the K-9 units as well as other

officers from the department, picked Robbie, who came to the United

States from a breeder in Holland.

“Robbie and I got to spend that month or so just bonding and

getting to know each other,” Hildeman said.

During that time, the officer took him to the park, played fetch

with him, fed him and gave him baths.

“There was no training or anything,” he said. “Just bonding.”

By the time they started formal training, Hildeman was Robbie’s

“dad,” his buddy. Robbie will continue to live with him, but will

live in a locked kennel outside Hildeman’s home to preserve their

professional relationship.

“It made it a lot easier to train,” he said.

Training involved obedience exercises as well as other procedures

such as conducting building searches, field searches, car stops and

handling different types of surfaces.

“Some dogs have issues with slick surfaces,” Hildeman said. “But

Robbie had no issues. He’s great and I’m very happy with him.”

A key challenge with any such partnership is to differentiate

between Hildeman the boss and Hildeman the friend.

“It’s important to make the dog understand who the master is in

the relationship,” Hildeman said.

Again, with Robbie, that has not been a problem, he said.

“When he’s at home, he’s this dopey, tame dog,” he said. “But when

it comes to business, he’s all business. His ears perk up and he has

his game face on.”

These dogs are trained to treat work like a game, which usually

ends with the reward. That reward, is usually a treat or a bite.

Hildeman has trained with the K-9 unit during the last three years

as an “agitator” who usually puts on a bite suit and trains the dog

to perform different actions, rewarding his success by allowing the

animal to take a bite off him.

The training would continue everyday, Hicks said.

“We will also be training Robbie to conduct narcotics searches in

the next year or so,” he said.

With the addition of Robbie, the department now has two K-9 units.

The other dog, Duco, a tan Malinois, has served the department for

three years now and has successfully sniffed out thousands of dollars

worth of drugs and helped out with many searches and car stops.

The canine program has been a valuable part of the department,

Hicks said.

“They have helped tremendously in terms of officer safety,” he

said. “And these dogs can perform searches in a fraction of the time

it would take several officers to perform.”

Hildeman said he got into this area of policing because he has

always loved dogs.

“This blends my hobby with my job,” he said. “It’s a perfect

situation.”

Having a buddy in the car would also feel good, he said.

“Driving with him to Riverside for training gave me a sense of

what it would be like,” he said. “He’d lick my ear from behind. I’d

stroke his ear. It’s nice.”

The pair was at the top of their class of 13 at the training

school, he said.

Robbie, who is 4 years old, has at least six good years of service

left in him, provided he doesn’t suffer debilitating injuries.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@ latimes.com.