Latrobe K-9 Zeus displays talents at National Night Out event

Those attending Latrobe’s annual observance of National Night Out on Tuesday saw how local police K-9 officers take a bite out of crime.

Latrobe police Officer Robert Derk, guiding his K-9 partner Zeus, showed an audience at Memorial Stadium how the 2-year-old German shepherd is trained to use his jaws to grip onto and help subdue bad guys — in this case, Ligonier Township Police Department K-9 handler Sgt. James Friscarella, who was wearing a padded “bite suit” designed for such training sessions.

Kids and their parents also got to see the gentler side of four-legged law enforcers, as they had the opportunity to pet K-9 officers with local police departments, Westmoreland County’s park police and a cadaver dog displayed by the County Coroner’s Office.

The National Night Out event helps reinforce a K-9’s socialization, supporting a police department’s positive outreach to the community it serves, Derk said.

“We always like to have a social dog as well. We like a dog that can interact with the public and be good with kids. We do go into a lot of schools.”

The National Night Out campaign, introduced in 1984, encourages community events across the country to promote police-community partnerships, with an eye to making neighborhoods safer.

“It gets the community involved and gets them to see what’s actually involved in us going out onto the street, what type of training we have, what type of resources we have,” Derk said. “This type of event helps the public understand that all these resources work together. We’re here for one goal, and that’s the public safety.”

Zeus, who has been with the Latrobe police since November, succeeds Derk’s previous K-9 partner, Rocky, who developed an untreatable form of cancer and died after retiring from the force. Zeus was purchased with the help of Mary Beth Eslarey, in honor of her late husband, former Ligonier Township K-9 handler Lt. Eric Eslarey, who died on May 5, 2015, when his police vehicle was struck by a driver headed the wrong way on Route 30 in the township.

Since joining the force, Zeus has been deployed more than 50 times, detecting more than $5,000 worth of narcotics and assisting with five apprehensions without the use of force.

“I’ve had individuals with felonies run from me,” Derk explained. “Once I introduced a K-9 into the mix and informed them I was going to release Zeus if they didn’t give up, they gave up without any incident.“

We had individuals who thought they wanted to fight us who stopped when Zeus was brought out.”

Derk explained K-9 officers receive commands in a foreign language so that the dog doesn’t mistakenly halt when his human partner orders a suspect to stop and get down on the ground.

A number of area social service organizations were represented at Tuesday’s event, as well as state police, state park officials and an Army National Guard unit from the Johnstown airport that arrived with a Blackhawk medical helicopter for attendees to tour.

Kelley Clark of Latrobe has been attending Latrobe’s National Night Out with her sons, Blayz Crusan, 8, and Stryce Crusan, 7, since they were toddlers.

“They’re really into first responders, policemen, firefighters, EMTs, anything that involves teamwork effort and helping the community,” Clark said of her sons. “This is great, because they get hands-on experience from people they look up to, and they get to realize that if firefighters are in uniform, don’t be afraid because it’s different.”

In addition to the K-9 demonstration, the family enjoyed getting a ride high above the ground in the bucket of the Latrobe Fire Department’s tower truck.

“We got to see the entire town,” Clark said. “It was awesome.”

Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jeff at 724-836-6622, jhimler@tribweb.com or via Twitter @jhimler_news.