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Tonight
A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.
Riley County Police Department officer Mark Racklyeft and his patrol K-9 dog, Moses. Moses, a three-year-old Belgian Malinois, is the sixth dog in the RCPD K-9 program since its start in 2004.
Riley County Police Department officer Mark Racklyeft and his patrol K-9 dog, Moses. Moses, a three-year-old Belgian Malinois, is the sixth dog in the RCPD K-9 program since its start in 2004.
Courtesy photo
Riley County Police Department patrol K-9 dog Moses and his handler, officer Mark Racklyeft.
Police dogs don’t greet their owners owners with a wagging tail at the end of the day; they go to work with their owners.
This is the new routine for Riley County police officer Mark Racklyeft, who volunteered to host and work with Moses, a 3-year-old Belgian Malinois. The Riley County Police Department’s first patrol K-9 dog who can apprehend suspects. That means he can stop a person until the officer can reach them and handcuff the person.
The two started patrolling and living together July 19, and are continuing to aid their relationship at a training through Thursday.
“K-9 Moses is a valuable addition to RCPD,” Racklyeft said in a announcement last week. “A dual-purpose police service dog increases officer safety while still being able to serve the community. K-9 Moses adds another asset to locate missing persons and illegal narcotics, allowing us to continue to reduce crime and improve the quality of life for the citizens in Riley County.”
RCPD spokesman Aaron Wintermote said it’s historic because past K-9s could track drugs and people, but not halt a person of interest. The department always has two dogs in the patrol program, and Moses replaced Axel, a canine who retired in December 2022.
“It seems like a normal dog-owner relationship,” Wintermote said. “They interact like any other owner and dog, but they are professional partners as well, so you kind of see both sides of that: the professional side and the personal connection any owner has with their dog.”
In the midst of a drug epidemic in the county and in Riley County, Moses assists in the fight against pills laced with fentanyl. Despite the recent uptick in charges this summer, Wintermote said it’s standard for the K-9 program to always have two dogs on duty. The canine handlers work closely with investigators.
“I wouldn’t say the specific uptick is why we’re doing this, dogs are always a big part of our drug operations,” Wintermote said. “A lot of those drug cases are worked by our detectives but those canine handlers really work hand-in-hand in our investigations and have to be cohesive with each other from when those drugs are found up until the presentation in court.”
According to the announcement, Moses is the sixth dog in the RCPD K-9 program since its start in 2004. RCPD hired Racklyeft in 2019, who will be a handler for the first time.
The two completed 160 hours of training for certification through Code 2 Canine Services in Omaha, Nebraska. The training session the team is currently at is part of a regular 16-hour minimum requirement of monthly training.