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Sterling
Heights Police Dog & Police Officer Rich Heins Sterling Heights Police Officer Rich Heins and his K9 partner Morgan beat out 20 K9 units at the regional certification competition of the United States Police Canine Association recently in Ludington. Heins is a longtime K9 handler with the department and instructor at Macomb Community College's Police Canine Training Center. Morgan, a six year old Dutch Shepherd, sniffed out a bad guy hiding in a box, chased down an assailant firing a gun at him and Heins, and brought him down without cowering as six shots were fired at him and his partner. Morgan also scaled a 6-foot high wall, crawled through a tunnel 12 inches high and 8 feet long, jumped hurdles and sniffed out a shotgun shell and a screwdriver hidden in grass 18 inches high within 44 seconds. Heins credits retired Detroit Police Department K9 Officer John Skalski with giving him the guidance and expertise to train great K9 cops. Morgan, born in Amsterdam, comes from an excellent bloodline. The dog's father is a repeated first place finisher in prestigious competition held there, and his mother was fifth place finisher in the same European competition. "Is there something special about the dog?" Darn right, but there's also something special to the training." Out of a possible 700 points, Morgan scored 694.83. Fellow Sterling Heights Officer Darren Steele's dog, Johnny, came in second place. They will go on to compete in Minnesota for a national competition. Source: Kim North Shine, Detroit Free Press
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