A Columbus Police Department canine who was scheduled to retire the first part of next year will leave the force early to ease into retirement in the care of his former handler.
Columbus Board of Works members agreed Tuesday to allow K-9 Max to be sold for $1 to his former Columbus Police Department handler, officer John Searle, now a Shelbyville police officer. Searle picked up Max Tuesday night, police said.
Max’s current handler, Jeremy Jones, is leaving the police department to become a full-time Columbus firefighter later this month, Columbus police said.
Because of the schedule firefighters have, including 24-hour-shifts for days in a row, Jones would have been unable to care for Max in his retirement, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman.
Although Searle is a police officer in Shelbyville, 7-year-old Max will not be a police dog for the Shelbyville department, Harris said. He’ll just be a pet.
“We had concerns about finding someone who could care for a trained police dog,” Harris said.
The department’s two remaining canine officers were not able to take Max in, Harris said. Because of the dog’s age, police were concerned about Max’s ability to adjust to a third, new person as his handler, he said.
Since Searle was Max’s original handler, the dog is already familiar with him, Harris said.
Searle will take financial responsibility for all of Max’s food, medical and vet bills, and the city will not have any expenses related to Max’s retirement, he said.
Searle said he did not hesitate when Columbus Police Chief Jon Rohde contacted him last week to inquire whether he might want to care for Max as the dog retires from the force.
“I said, “Yes, absolutely, where do I sign?’ “ Searle said Monday.
Afterward, Searle spent some time with Max to get re-acquainted.
“It just seemed like old times,” he said.
First case
Max is best known for helping discover drugs on his first day on the force in May 2014, finding crystal methamphetamine hidden in a cigarette case in a car.
The Shepherd Malinois was acquired after Columbus North graduate Dylan Prather — as a senior project — raised more than $15,000 in 2014, allowing the city to purchase, train and maintain the dog. Prather is now a Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputy.
In a Nov. 6 arrest, Prather and K-9 Max crossed paths again when a local man was arrested on multiple charges after being accused of stealing a vehicle in Columbus after forcing his way into a local home. When officers, including Prather, found the suspect hiding in a field and when the suspect did not respond to commands to surrender, K-9 Max was sent in to locate and detain him.
When Searle left the Columbus Police Department in 2016, Max began training with Jones. At the time Searle left the department, Prather had hoped Max might have moved with him, because of the close bond between the officer and the police dog.
Searle said Monday he and Prather have kept in touch and he is enormously proud that the young man has become a law enforcement officer.
Replacing Max
Columbus Police Department now has two working K-9 and handlers, Branch Schrader with Argo and Chad Lehman with Niko.
The cost to purchase, train and maintain a police dog for a year and provide training for the canine’s handler is more than $15,300, according to 2014 figures provided by the police department. After that, the annual cost per dog runs about $1,700.
Harris said Columbus police have budgeted for a new K-9 to replace Max in next year’s budget and will be working to fill Jones’ position as the dog’s handler next year.
Searle said before becoming a canine officer, he did not realize that the bond between a handler and their police dog could be so strong.
“The dog is truly your partner,” Searle said. “He relies on you for everything and you rely on him. The bond you have with the dog is stronger than any pet you will every have. You spend more time with him than even your friends and family. He’s there with you at work all day and at home all night.”
In addition to being a great friend, Searle said K-9’s like Max are also by a police officer’s side through every situation they face and the dogs truly have the officers’ well-being in mind at all times.
Searle complimented Jones on the great work he had done with Max in the past two years.
He said he is grateful for the opportunity for the two to reunite and for Max to enjoy civilian life along with Searle’s other pet, which happens to be a cat.
