K-9 ‘Storm’ Joins LBPD

After his police service dog “Credo” succumbed to friendly fire injuries last June 28, LBPD Officer Mike Parcells has acquired a new K-9.

Parcells traveled to Indiana in August and interacted with 25 other dogs before choosing “Storm,” a 1 ½ year-old male Belgian Malinois.

“Given his young age, Officer Parcells has described Storm as puppy-like and compared him to having a 2-year-old toddler, but is confident in what he has seen in his abilities,” the LBPD said in a statement. “He acknowledged that losing Credo was extremely difficult and no other dog could take his place, but is excited to have Storm as his new partner and knows this is the beginning of a new journey.”

Storm was imported from the Netherlands and responds to commands in Dutch. He received pre-training there before going to the Vohne Liche Kennels training facility in Indiana. After being selected, Storm traveled to Long Beach with Parcells and underwent several weeks of patrol training, including search techniques, verbal commands, obedience, agility and evidence searches.

In total, Storm went through more than 200 hours of training and was certified for field duty on November 11, 2016. Storm is Parcells’ sixth police service dog.

All LBPD service dogs live with their handlers and the department covers the cost of the dogs’ food and equipment, an LBPD spokeswoman said through email.

Storm was funded by the Long Beach K-9 Officers Association (LBK9OA), a non-profit organization established by members of the community with the goal of promoting and supporting the LBPD’s K-9 Unit, the LBPD said in a statement.

The LBK9OA also paid for professionally fitted and upgraded tactical vests for LBPD police service dogs.

More information about LBK9OA, history and photos of current and past K-9 dogs can be found at www.lbk9oa.org.

kirt@beachcomber.news