Sioux County, Iowa — Some area high school students got to see how a police dog does his job recently.
The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office Canine Unit demonstrated for some area high school students at Unity Christian High School in Orange City. The Sheriff’s Office says that Deputy Justin De Bruin and his canine, Sonny, along with School Resource Officer, Deputy Waylon Pollema, showed the students how Sonny can be used in criminal apprehension scenarios. Sonny and DeBruin are one of two K9 teams employed by the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office.
DeBruin tells us how a demonstration works.
He tells us a little about the officer protection part of Sonny’s job.
In these scenarios, Pollema used a bite-training sleeve and Sonny was able to apply bite techniques so the students could see how Sonny works in live scenarios in which Deputy De Bruin uses commands and Sonny reacts.
They tell us that one scenario consisted of a pat‐down search of Pollema where Pollema became combative. The other consisted of Pollema fleeing from De Bruin. Sonny, after being released, chased and apprehended him.
DeBruin says that while some things the dog does are on command, Sonny pays attention to everything going on around him and will react on his own when he feels it’s needed.
He says that the bond between dog and handler is a very tight bond and Sonny basically doesn’t listen to anyone else.
The Sheriff’s Office says students enjoyed seeing how a law enforcement canine works in real‐life situations.
The Sheriff’s Office says Sonny has worked for them with Deputy DeBruin since August 2014. They say his specialties are drug detection, suspect apprehension, article detection, tracking and officer protection.
Photo caption: Sonny apprehends Pollema while DeBruin commands.
