WAUKESHA — The Waukesha Police Department recently welcomed a new member to the team. And he’s got pointy ears, a long tail and a soft coat. Monday was K-9 Lambo’s first day on the job, and he’s paired with Officer Dan Riess on the late power shift.
Born Nov. 30, 2022, the Belgian Malinois comes all the way from Holland. His commands are given in Dutch, and K-9 Lambo is trained in narcotics detection, handler protection and suspect apprehension. The Waukesha Police Department K-9 Unit, founded in 2021 and funded solely by donations, also has two other dogs – Arko and Ryker.
Like the other K-9s, Lambo had to undergo some training before joining Waukesha PD. Captain Dan Baumann says that while K-9 Ryker is trained to track down children, people with Alzheimer’s, and people with Autism or other special needs in “search and rescue” instances, Lambo handles more nefarious situations.
“This dog is more for suspect apprehension – someone who is a danger to the public,” Baumann explained. “… That’s what their job is — to locate bad people. … They have a choice to surrender, and the dog will not bite them. If they choose to fight the dog or fight with police, the dog will do that to protect the handler and protect other officers.”
The captain also noted that police dogs like Lambo “come with a base model” of training in areas like detection, which can be anything from sniffing out “narcotics to bed bugs to cancers to glue.” When it comes to apprehending the suspect, Baumann says there are “certain types of scents – in essence, endorphins – that the dog is trained to detect in a suspect that is fleeing apprehension.”
Acquiring police dogs is a long process, and it begins across the pond. Baumann says there are breeders with “major bloodlines” in Europe. From there, American vendors fly over to visit the breeders and get to know the dogs. One such vendor is Jessiffany Canine Services from Iron Ridge.
Jessiffany will order a handful of dogs from European breeders, the captain explains, and evaluate them to determine which would be a good fit for law enforcement. Then, the Waukesha PD will visit Jessiffany and conduct their own evaluation. After selecting and buying a dog, the dog and its handler will go through five weeks of training.
K-9 Lambo finished training on June 28, and he’s been getting used to his new gig. Baumann says a typical day for the dog involves coming into work during the evening hours, attending roll call, spending time with his shift mates, and riding in the squad car during calls for service. Since his first day was Monday, K-9 Lambo has just been staying in the vehicle to get acclimated. Once adjusted, he can respond to calls in both Waukesha and other municipalities that request K-9 assistance.
K-9 Lambo will have a six- to eight-yearlong career with the Waukesha PD. Afterward, he’ll retire to “the lap of luxury.” This means staying with his handler, Officer Riess, as his pet. But in the meantime, Baumann says he’s a “tool of the police department.”
“We’ve always talked about de-escalating situations. This term is synonymous, now, in anything we do. We want to de-escalate things in the classroom. We want to deescalate things with our mental health population, with our unhoused population,” the captain explained. “… The #1 tool law enforcement can have, absent a uniformed presence, to de-escalate a situation, is this K-9.”
K-9 Lambo might look cute and cuddly, but Baumann says the dog will have a big impact on both the Waukesha PD and the community at large in terms of crime prevention.
“Our #1 thing is deterrence,” Baumann said. “[It’s] that display of authority that he brings to the scene, that de-escalation component. But, ultimately, [K-9 Lambo is] an enhanced layer of security at any venue that we utilize him at.”
The captain noted that ongoing investments in public safety, including adding another K-9 to the unit, will also encourage potential criminals to rethink stirring up trouble in Waukesha.
“They’re going to see the tools and resources that we have, not just with Lambo and Arko, but with all of our training and experience and tools and techniques and technology that we deploy throughout the city,” he said. “We want them to sit down and be like, ‘You know what? I’m not going to go there. They’re going to catch me. I’m going to be held accountable, and I’m going to sit in jail for a long period.’”
