Veteran Criminal-Catching Dog Retires

Talk about "Wonder Dog"!

Henk, a 9-year-old Czechoslovakian-born German Shepherd, has retired after seven years of service with the .

City councilmembers commended the K-9 veteran on Jan. 12 as he took his final bow at the council’s meeting. 

And it's a finale that comes after thousands of merits.

Mayor Alan Nagy read off Henk’s accomplishments over his seven-year career, which included:

• 562 building searches
• 1,071 outside area searches
• 5,069 security checks of residents and businesses
• The capture of 92 suspects and
• A total of 1,580 hours of service to the community.

In addition to being a member of Newark police’s K-9 unit, Henk has also worked with the Newark-Union City SWAT team.

Officer Patrick Smith has been Henk’s handler since the start of the K-9’s police career and Smith said his partner's skills are unique.

“Dogs do something we can’t do,” Smith said.  “Their sense of smell is thousands of times better than humans.  Before we walk into a house, he already knows if there’s someone and where they are located in the house.”

Henk’s transition into retirement has been smooth, Smith said. 

“But it won’t be easy for him to retire from something he loves doing,” he said. “Everyday we went to work at 4 p.m. and he wouldn’t shut up until we got to work.”

One of Smith’s most memorable operations with Henk was one conducted out of town.

“I remember one time we were working with the gang unit and [the] suspect evaded arrest at a storage facility in Fremont,” Smith recounted.  “There were tons of doors and entrances in the facility, but Henk found him within about five minutes.”

On the list of Henk’s most recent achievements is the recovery of more than $10,000 in drug money and discovery of more than 18 pounds of methamphetamine buried in a backyard in Newark.

“The meth was buried underneath bricks in the ground in an ice chest,” Smith said.  “There is simply no technology that can replace a dog.  You can blindfold him and they’ll still find the bad guys.  If they smell narcotics or a bad guy, he’ll get them.”

Henk’s services have expanded outside of Newark. He has helped sniff out cases in numerous surrounding cities, including Fremont, Union City, Hayward and Menlo Park.  The DEA in San Jose has asked for Henk’s help on numerous occasions, Smith said.

Henk was the first city bought dog and was sold to Smith for $1 during the Jan. 12 meeting.

The Newark Police Department currently has two K-9s working on patrol, who works with Officer Britain Jackman and , the newest addition to the K-9 unit, who is handled by Officer Nick Mavrakis.

Smith has been on leave for a few weeks and will soon go back to work without his usual K9 partner, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be distant from the K-9 Unit.

Smith said he plans to continue to be involved with K-9s by helping train future dog handlers and that he wants to work with another dog before he retires.

As for Henk, he will more likely be catching tennis balls and Frisbees instead of criminals and drugs from now on. 

“It’ll be good for him to retire, but I’m sure he’ll miss it,” Smith said.