Danville police K-9 getting two new brothers on the force
DANVILLE, Ill. (NEXSTAR) –Jack can do it all. As a full service K-9, the Danville department will call him in for all sorts of reasons.
“So he does narcotics apprehension, article searches, tracking he does he does every aspect,” Danville police officer Steven Rannebarger said.
Rannebarger and Jack have been partners now for nine years.
“When I first got on the department, I was asked to come to some of the canine training sessions. And I just fell in love with it,” Rannebarger said. “I loved the training aspect of the dogs. I like believe it or not, I like being in the bite suit taking the bites and I loved every aspect of the of the position.”
For all the help Jack brings to the field, Rannebarger said he is just as helpful off the clock.
“It’s a good way for us to kind of destress at home,” he said. “I say destress but he let some stress out at home too by playing ball and going on long walks. So yes, we both take the time at home and destress together.”
When Rannebarger and Jack clock out for the day, they head home and spend time with the rest of their family, and they both get to unwind.
“He’s a little nuts, but he’s a great social guy. He’s, he’s almost nine years old,” Rannebarger said. “He’s very loving at home. He gets along with my wife, my daughter, well, he loves people. But when it’s time to work, there’s a switch and he’s ready to go to work.”
The Danville Police Department first brought in K-9 officers in the late 90’s. For a while, they had three, but as staff numbers dropped, so did the number of K-9’s the department can take on.
“Due to manpower issues, due to different budgeting constraints over the years, and also training time, because you’ve got to send somebody off, you know, for up to eight weeks to do the training, it kind of got dwindled down to one,” Deputy Chief Joshua Webb said.
With only one K-9 unit, Rannebarger and Jack are called in during off hours relatively frequently.
“By having them on each shift to where it doesn’t put the strain on just one officer needs to cover all that, which is kind of the boat we’ve been in for a while.” Webb said.
But now, the department is preparing to get back to their goal of three. Two new K-9’s are currently in training, and soon, their handlers will start training with them as well.
READ MORE: Danville City Council greenlights two new K9 officers
“This would give us the ability to have a canine on on each shift and have that that tool be readily available to anybody work in the shift,” Webb said.
And while each of those K-9’s will be going back home with a different handler, Jack will still be getting two new brothers in blue.
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