Dexter Police K-9, Bard, 'a huge asset'

DEXTER — The newest member of the Dexter Police Department may be a bit young, but he already has proven himself to be a valuable addition to the department.

Bard, a 2-year-old German shepherd, recently went into service after completing eight weeks of training with his handler, Patrolman Thomas Forkum.

“As soon as I turned into the city limits to come to work, when I got on the road with him, I meet a truck and stopped it,” Forkum said. “I was already to work with him just to see how it was going to go.”

During their first weekend on the road, “I personally made three drugs arrests,” which were all felonies, Forkum explained. “Then, the (Missouri State) Highway Patrol made like seven misdemeanor drugs arrests using him.

“It was pretty intense that first weekend because everybody wanted to use him. … He was the new thing on the block.”

Bard is trained in tracking and narcotics detection, said Forkum, who emphasized Bard is “not certified as a bite dog.”

“He’s a huge asset,” Forkum said. “Honestly, it’s unbelievable the stuff he detects.”

Bard, he said, can detect marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin.

“He’s spot on,” Forkum said. “You can literally have a little bit of meth residue or any kind of drugs on your hands and touch the door handle of a car, and he’s going to alert to that door handle.”

Forkum, a 13-month veteran of the department and a self-described animal lover, said, he applied to be the canine handler for narcotics investigations.

“The dog is, obviously, a huge tool for narcotics, and that’s really my main interest in this line of work,” Forkum said. “… He will help make my job easier.”

Forkum said anytime he gets out of his SUV, “he’s up and watching every move I make. He’s ready to get out of the car with me.”

When Forkum opens the back hatch, which is where Bard’s equipment is stored, “he’s just ready to go like turning circles, ready to get out of the car,” he said.

Bard, according to Forkum, is “good at what he does, and that’s all I can ask from him. He’s making me proud.”

Forkum described their recently completed training as “pretty intense at first. …

“The first few weeks, I was telling my wife, I said, ‘You know, I don’t know, I don’t know about this.’ The first weeks, it was pretty tough, the training.”

At that time, Forkum said, he didn’t know if it was going to work out, but, in the end, it did.

“The tracking part (of the training) was pretty cool,” he said.

With his training, “if you walk in the grass, that’s how he tracks,” Forkum said.

Having Bard has “gone way better than I expected,” Forkum said. “The department’s been great giving me whatever he needed, I needed to get to where we are now.”

Since completing their training, “I’ve taken him around to a few different places,” Forkum said. “Everybody loves to see him out in the public.”

Donations covered the cost of re-establishing the canine unit for the department, which had been without a canine since 2013.

“It’s the least I can do to take him around to some of those places that have donated,” he said.

Bard and Forkum haven’t done any public relations events yet, but he anticipates such events in the future.

At this time, Bard is the only canine available in county.

Forkum said the Stoddard County Sheriff’s Department, where he previously was employed, hasn’t had a canine since the late 1990s or early 2000s.

Forkum said many of the officers, like himself, have never worked with a canine or had that tool available to them.

“Once you realize you have it and you can use it, then it becomes easier for you to get used to doing that,” Forkum said.

The sheriff’s department, he said, hasn’t requested he and Bard’s services yet, but “I did get a county commission so they could use him.”

As Forkum looks to the future, he said, he hopes Bard stays healthy and “continues to do what he’s doing. Right now, I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

If it is OK with his supervisors, Forkum said, he and Bard also could be able to assist outlying agencies in need of a canine.

“I’m willing to help anyone out,” he said.