CHESTERTOWN — A certified member of the Kent County Sheriff’s Office, from unknown origins, living on the street for an indiscriminate amount of time, can go from calm to attack-mode in the blink of an eye.
This member runs like the wind, clocked at 37 miles-per-hour, and can detect illegal substances in hidden places within seconds.
This member is not a genetically-altered super police officer, per-se.
In reality, her name is Khari, a Belgian Malinois Shepherd, K-9 police dog handled by Kent County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Scott Lockerman.
Since last year, Khari’s been at Lockerman’s side.
As her name sake describes in Koine Greek, the language of the New Testament, Khari means “grace” and “favor.”
Lockerman acknowledged that’s indeed what she is. A few years back, he was praying for something to happen after they retired three police dogs and the state passed a funding mandate requiring the county to fund their medical expenses.
“The (retired) dogs receive up to $1,100 a year for vet coverage; $10,000 for the rest of the life of the dog,” Lockerman said.
Good for the dogs, but the force wasn’t sure how soon they could replace their patrol dog, nor how much they wanted to invest in a new one.
While vacationing at Myrtle Beach last year, Lockerman made tentative plans to view another dog. Those plans fell through, fortunately.
When he and his wife returned home, he was informed by trainer Mark Carr, of Tidewater Strategic Services, of an unclaimed dog that had been in the Cecil County animal shelter for a month, found on Elkton’s streets.
Lockerman said right away the dog gave the impression she was smart and tenacious. Her first day at the shelter she had managed to push open two doors, and a cupboard, and was eating Pringles in the lobby surrounded by the caged hamsters before the shelter worker’s shift.
The Monday Lockerman returned from his trip, he and Carr visited the dog. She wasn’t Khari back then. Her “prison name,” he joked was Pringles, for the snack she gobbled up that first day.
Lockerman and Carr tested Pringles, later named Khari, using a bite pillow, a bite tug, and then tested her ball drive.
He pointed out the qualities they look for in any K-9, is a strong “prey drive” rather than a “play drive” which the animal tends to tire out over time.
Khari has a strong prey drive.
“She is go, go, go, all the time,” Lockerman commented, adding the vets couldn’t keep her from scaling their fences.
That same day, Lockerman took her to Kent County to further test her. First to the metal steps at the Chestertown Armory, then to the Chester River where she felt a little hesitant, and on to Tractor Supply. They have concrete shiny floors, he noted, and some dogs don’t like that.
Khari was fine with all of it, swimming, climbing and exploring.
Still Khari had to prove herself through further testing and training that she could exhibit the confidence needed to make her a vital asset to her team.
Soon after, Sheriff Dennis Hickman approved, and Lockerman had his first K-9 patrol dog.
Like academy training for young officers, Khari had to get medically cleared.
Screened by local veterinarians, she was checked her for hip dysplasia, and a bone density test confirmed her to be 2 to 3-years-old.
The road to get certified required training every first and third Wednesday cooperating with police departments in Easton and Federalsburg and counties, Dorchester and Caroline. Training included bite work, narcotics scent work and live decoy scenarios, where the padded up adversary hides away and Lockerman and Khari search them out.
Khari took to it, following a track of disturbed earth, locked in on the scent.
She learned how to alert to narcotics through a reward based system.
“Ultimately we reward them for staying with the odor, and we repeatedly do that until she thinks it’s a game,” Lockerman stated.
One object contains the scent they want to imprint, and the others are blank. In an astounding three weeks, Khari learned to go right to the scent.
Becoming proficient with bite and scent training, Khari got certified, January 24 by the North American Police Work Dog Association, becoming official. Since then she’s showed her value in many ways.
Lockerman said during a vehicle narcotic scan, Khari sniffed out cocaine. Her keen nose gave police probable search, leading to the discovery of an unserialized weapon.
“She’s a fighter. She’s got so much personality,” Lockerman said. “It’s awesome to have a dog that can fight for you and at the same time, go out on the road and meet people.”
Khari is a dual purpose dog, being able to work with apprehension and scent detection; and also also has a good on-and-off switch — rare for her breed.
As intense as she is on the job, she can be so gentle Lockerman’s comfortable enough to take her to the schools to let kids pet her.
She’s not just friendly to kids either. She’ll even condone country music sensations like Jake Owen, allowing him to grab a selfie in the midst of a bustling concert at Washington College in April.
And her owner’s taking to her too. He can see her incredible personality and her adaptability.
When he turns the sirens on, she uncharacteristically howls, something he said she picked up from rooming next to a bloodhound during lockup.
When she hunts, Khari’s pointy ears act as antenna, going vertical when her interest is piqued.
And, typical of her personality, she adapted to the water so well, she took the polar ice plunge earlier this year with Lockerman and Chestertown Police Chief Ron Dixon.
Khari’s becoming loved throughout the community along with their other K-9, Loki, a floppy-eared lab.
Lockerman was grateful to Sheriff Hickman for taking a chance on her training, half funded through the Maryland Police K-9 Foundation run by Lockerman.
Hickman highly commended Khari. “She was an incredible find. She can handle all the duties we ask of her, while being an ambassador for the Kent County Sheriff’s Office. We often use Sgt. Lockerman and Khari to represent the office at functions throughout the county, I always receive positive feedback.”
Lockerman watches Khari, patrolling, thinking about her life before police work.
“This dog is awesome. I always wonder, what happened? Who lost her? Who got rid of her and why?”
For the nine-year officer, Khari’s a miracle, and like many of miracles, for now, may have to go unexplained.
You can check out Khari and Loki’s adventures on social media at their own Instagram page @k9s_khari_and_loki.
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