K 9

More than 30 years ago, as Charles J. Kocher and fellow officer Raymond Garrison patrolled the streets of Camden, the two got the idea of creating a city police museum, and they did, one item at a time. Officers and family members fetched old uniforms, batons, and badges from attics and lent photos dating to the 1920s. In 1981, the display opened in the lobby of the department's new Federal Street headquarters. Among the exhibits were a microphone from a two-way 1930s radio and snapshots of "potato sacks" - wool, below-the-knee police coats - and of green police wagons from the 1950s.

The K-9 police unit of Winslow Township gave demonstrations June 3 during a visit to the Littlest Angels Nursery School, at Church and County House Roads. The unit is composed of three dogs - Caesar, Magnum and Ruger - and their masters. The K-9 unit gives about 60 demonstrations during a year's time.

Zeke was only 6 the summer of 1984, when he sniffed out two burglars in the crawl space of a Lansdale department store and wrestled one to the ground with his teeth. The capture of those two suspects solved 22 area burglaries. But his biggest coup came two years later, in 1986, when he nosed out a professional burglary ring that had been plaguing small towns in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. The "bug-eyed" canine cop was honored posthumously Sept. 1 by the Hatfield Township Police Department.

TRENTON - People who intentionally kill police dogs or dogs involved in search-and-rescue operations may soon face stiffer penalties in New Jersey. The Assembly is set to consider legislation, named after a Gloucester Township police dog killed in November, that would mandate minimum five-year prison terms - with no chance of parole - for such offenders, who also would face fines of up to $15,000. The current maximum sentence is three to five years in prison. The measure, set to be considered on Monday, was passed by the state senate in February.

A federal court jury found yesterday that Philadelphia police Officer Stephen Gubicza did not violate the civil rights of an Elkins Park man when he permitted his police dog Stormy to attack the man during a 1983 arrest in Center City. The jury deliberated about an hour before reaching its verdict in the lawsuit filed by Roosevelt James Patterson, 33, who had sought $165,000 from the city and the officer. The suit charged false arrest, use of excessive force and civil rights violations by Gubicza.

The date: February 1989. Plymouth Township police, with the assistance of a drug-sniffing dog from Norristown, raided a trailer on Main Street. The haul: 157 bags of cocaine, two bags of methamphetamine, and other drugs and drug paraphernalia. The date: May 1990. Three times during a series of burglaries in Plymouth, a police dog was called in. But by the time it arrived from a neighboring municipality, the burglar was long gone. "We're very appreciative" of the other departments bringing dogs to Plymouth, said Police Chief Joseph R. Cross.

After charges were announced yesterday against an officer accused of stealing money from an open safe in a Northeast Philly bar, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said he's preparing a proposal to root out bad cops from the force. Ramsey said he'll submit the plan to Mayor Nutter by Monday. He declined to divulge details of the plan, other than to say it would focus equally on preventive action and aggressive internal investigation. "Crime is bad no matter who commits it, but it's even worse when it's a police officer," Ramsey said.

The township Planning Board delayed action last night on the Police Department's plan for a new kennel for its K-9 patrol, but said it had no major bones to pick, just a few minor concerns. Sgt. James Evans, head of the K-9 patrol, said that he expected the department to submit a revised site plan for the kennel within several days, and that it would address the board's concerns over fencing, landscaping and some other technical points. With the Planning Board not scheduled to meet again until Dec. 13, Evans said he would ask for a special meeting to approve the revised plan so work could begin soon.

A SOUTH JERSEY man who starred on the gridiron years ago threw away his freedom Tuesday night when he hurled a prized police K-9 into oncoming traffic, police said. Police in Gloucester Township, Camden County, said that their decorated K-9, Schultz, a 3 1/2-year-old German shepherd named after beloved Philadelphia Flyers enforcer Dave "The Hammer" Schultz, had clamped down on Skyler Robinson's arm after a robbery Tuesday night and held tight as they struggled toward busy Route 42. Robinson, 20, a former standout running back in high school, swung Schultz into the southbound lanes while his handler watched, and the dog and Robinson were struck by a vehicle, police said.

The accomplice in a Chinese-takeout robbery that ended with the death of a police dog in November accepted a plea deal Monday. Evan Scotese, 20, of Washington Township, pleaded guilty to robbing the Gloucester Township restaurant and is expected to be sentenced to six years in prison under the deal. Scotese had faced additional charges of aggravated assault and conspiracy under an eight-count indictment presented by a Camden County grand jury in June. Skyler Robinson, a former football standout at Washington Township High School, awaits trial for his alleged role in the robbery and death of the police dog, which was run over during the police chase.

An AR-15 rifle - with a big boost from a controversy - has helped the Chester County Sheriff's Department raise more than $20,000 for its K9 unit. But the man who won the rifle in a raffle said it is unlikely a single shot will ever be fired from his prize. Mike Ivey, who has owned an auto-repair shop in West Chester for 27 years, said he entered the raffle after hearing about it on a TV news program. And he's so proud of his prize that he plans to frame it and hang it on his wall, right next to his winning ticket.

More than 30 years ago, as Charles J. Kocher and fellow officer Raymond Garrison patrolled the streets of Camden, the two got the idea of creating a city police museum, and they did, one item at a time. Officers and family members fetched old uniforms, batons, and badges from attics and lent photos dating to the 1920s. In 1981, the display opened in the lobby of the department's new Federal Street headquarters. Among the exhibits were a microphone from a two-way 1930s radio and snapshots of "potato sacks" - wool, below-the-knee police coats - and of green police wagons from the 1950s.

HE SAYS that he walks the road less traveled, preparing to survive the end times with firearms and purified water, but Fernando Antonio Salguero wasn't quite prepared to find himself where he was on Wednesday. Salguero, a Bridgeport, Pa., resident who founded the group "Survive and Thrive," was attending Municipal Court in Somerdale, Camden County, on Tuesday for motor-vehicle violations when police noticed that his 2005 Ford Crown Victoria was parked illegally. Police also learned that Salguero had been arrested last month in Hopewell Township, near Trenton, for unlawful possession of a weapon, so they asked if they could search his car, said Jason Laughlin, a spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.

Skyler Robinson, blamed for the death of Gloucester Township's much-loved canine police officer, is back in jail. Camden County officials detained him Monday after they discovered that Gloucester County had issued a warrant for a possible probation violation. On Thursday, law enforcement and elected officials were angered after a judge accepted Robinson's application into drug court, which places defendants into treatment programs instead of prison. In 2010, Robinson's arrest prompted national outrage after local authorities alleged that he had flung Gloucester Township's K-9, Schultz, into traffic as he fled from a robbery.

Meet Sarge - the $10,000 dog. The two-year-old, 60-pound Belgian Malinois is the newest member of the Folcroft Police Department in Delaware County, complete with leather collar, bulletproof vest, and an insatiable appetite for tennis balls. "They think I'm a tennis pro at Modell's," said his partner, Officer Eugene Mackey. Sarge, a bomb-sniffing expert and patrol K-9, is part of a special breed. In smaller police departments such as Folcroft's, the K-9 unit is an endangered species, an immense expense at a time of tight money.

A convicted robber who fled a New Jersey minimum security facility last night and was captured hours later now faces time in maximum security. Josue Burgos, 33, was in the midst of a 14 year sentence when he fled Bayside State Prison in Leesburg, Cumberland County about 8 p.m. last night, said Danielle Hunter, spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Corrections. Bayside is situated on 1,148 acres of woods and farmland in rural South Jersey, about 17 miles south of Vineland.

PICTURES OF Autumn Pasquale's freckled face were everywhere Monday, a week before her 13th birthday, her photocopied smiles covering all corners of a small South Jersey town like the fall leaves. Her father's trembling voice called out to her in the night, wherever she is. "Autumn, come home!" a tearful Anthony Pasquale said Monday at a candlelight vigil outside the borough hall in Clayton, Gloucester County. "Come home. " The vigil, attended by hundreds from all over South Jersey, ended another frustrating day for the family of Autumn Pasquale, who's been missing since Saturday when she pedaled off from her home on High Street.

A man was arrested after fleeing the scene of a fatal accident Friday night in Delaware County, police said. The victim, a pedestrian, was struck by a car around 7 at the Parkview Mobile Home Park in the 4900 block of West Ninth Street in Trainer, police said. A manhunt was launched in the area, including the use of a K-9 unit, and the driver was apprehended, police said. Details about the victim were not immediately available. - Robert Moran