After an illustrious career, one Santa Clara police officer is settling into retirement — having hung up his leash earlier this month.
Yes, his leash. That’s because the officer in question is a police dog. On Nov. 9, the Santa Clara Police Department (SCPD) announced K9 Kairo would be working his final shift.
After nearly seven years of service, SCPD will replace the German Shepherd. Typically, the department works police dogs for five years.
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March would have marked seven years with the department, so Kairo’s handler, Sergeant Hilda Velasco, said the timing to retire Kairo was right.
“It is a lot of work on their hips. We don’t want to work them all the way to the ground,” she said. “It was the perfect time to retire him and let him enjoy that retired life.”
The breed is known to have hip issues, and with how active Kairo is, Velasco said, it made sense to retire him. The decision also dovetailed with Valasco’s promotion. Because of that, she said, she will be spending less time in the field.
Roughly a third of police departments have police dogs, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Dogs are used for various types of crime fighting, ranging from tracking suspects, crowd control, search-and-rescue and drug and explosive detection.
Sniffing dogs’ efficacy is typically between 90% and 95%, meeting the legal standard for “beyond a reasonable doubt,” according to a 2001 study published in Talanta, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
Kairo is one of four K9 units working for the SCPD.
Lt. Eric Lagergren, with SCPD, said the department will likely replace Kairo within a few months.
Cost estimates for police dogs typically range between $10,000 and $15,000, with some estimates as high as $45,000, depending on training. Annual upkeep on a police dog costs roughly $3,000.
Trained in bomb detection, Velasco said Kairo has worked every event at Levi’s Stadium. Although she knows Kairo is a partner, sometimes he feels more like a member of her family, Velasco said. That bond can make it a challenge for her to see him in harm’s way.
“It is definitely something I’ve thought about when I was out on patrol,” she said. “There is always a risk an officer or a K9 can get hurt. Nobody wants a K9 to get hurt.”
Lagergren called Kairo “invaluable.”
“Police dogs are just a huge asset to the community, to the department,” he said.
While there likely isn’t any golf in Kairo’s future, with his last shift under his harness, he can relax at home with Valesco’s other dog and her 12-year-old child, enjoying retirement.
Contact David Alexander at d.todd.alexander@gmail.com
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