Sheriff Department brings K-9 to kids

The Nissen Public Library in town held a presentation at City Hall on Tuesday in which Deputy Sheriff Jackson Steinberg brought his trusted K-9 officer Rev along to inform the kids and adults of the community alike about Rev’s role in the department.

Rev, a 3-year-old German shepherd, has been working with the Mitchell County Sheriff Department for a year and a half and is the only police dog in the county.

His main purpose is to locate and detect narcotics. He can find nine different kinds of narcotics, from cannabis, to meth, to even pills. Rev has spent months training with his handler Deputy Steinberg in order to become a K-9 officer.

One part of this training included Steinberg putting a small amount of narcotic in a cotton ball, which was then put into a jar, which was put into a single locker alongside multiple other lockers; Rev still managed to sniff out the narcotic. Rev is also trained to attack and apprehend perpetrators who may be a threat to officers or other citizens, Steinberg was very careful in assuring attendees that Rev will only bite someone if he instructs him to do so.

Steinberg said, “The goal is to never have Rev bite someone.”

Steinberg has a series of commands that he can give Rev, most of which are in German. However, many times Rev does not require a verbal command, as much of his behavior is detected by his handler’s body language.

Therefore, if the Deputy is acting in an aggressive manner toward a subject, Rev can detect that and will follow suit.

“He typically gets zero commands on the streets,” Steinberg said.

Despite Rev’s capability at apprehending criminals, Steinberg showed that he is actually a very calm and friendly dog. The many children who attended the demonstration were able to pet him, and some even posed for pictures.