Taneytown hires new, furry police officer to help conduct traffic stops and search for missing people

The Taneytown Police Department has a new officer. He’s only 18 months old, and his name is Trigger.

The black Labrador Retriever will join the force in about two months, once he and his handler, Pfc. Trevor Echols, 31, finish six weeks of training. Once Trigger joins the force it will be the first time in more than two decades that the Taneytown Police Department will have a K-9 unit.

Police Chief Adrian Baker said enhanced drug enforcement was the impetus for adding Trigger to the police force. The dog will be trained in drug search tactics and to track suspects fleeing police as well as how to find missing children, older adults, and individuals with disabilities.

“I think we will be able to affect a lot of change in Taneytown and in Carroll County,” Echols said.

Baker said he’s eager for Trigger to begin helping the city police during traffic stops, when drugs are suspected.

“There are drug problems in Taneytown just like there are in any town in the country,” Baker said. “We are not unique there. One of our important tools is doing a drug scan when we do traffic stops. However, we are sort of geographically stuck, out in the the corner of the county. Our allied agencies that have dogs, like the sheriff’s department or the state police, although they graciously respond when they can, they’re generally too far away. We’re required to release someone from a traffic stop within a reasonable time, but the short of it is we can’t get a dog here soon enough.”

Trigger cost the city about $15,000, Baker said, and likely will be able to work for seven or eight years before he is retired.

The city contracted with Gary Garrison, of Annville, Pennsylvania, who operates K9 Guardian, which prepares dogs for specialized services. Garrison brought in the dog from Germany. The contract includes training and federally required regular check-ups. Garrison said he selects European dogs because they are less likely to have traces of inbreeding and are often healthier.

Trigger will be certified by both Garrison and a representative of the North American Police Work Dog Association. Once training and certification are complete, he will be able to detect the odors of cocaine, heroin, meth and ecstasy, as well as track people.

Trigger was selected, in part, for his friendly demeanor and strong prey drive, two important traits for police dogs. “I believe in having social police dogs because they have to be out there in the community,” Garrison said.

Echols, who has effectively adopted Trigger, said he always wanted to be a K-9 officer, and welcomes the added responsibility, both in animal care and serving his community.

“If you’re looking for a missing 4-year-old, if they’re calling a canine, it’s kind of like the last stop, so it’s almost like it’s a zero-fail mission,” Echols said. “You don’t want to mess it up, and that’s kind of appealing to me.”

Trigger is sharp, energetic, obedient, and driven to work, Echols said. He believes the puppy has a great disposition for being trained to accomplish any task.

“He’s a very well-rounded dog,” Echols said. “He’s great around kids, great around older people, but when it’s time to work, he knows that it’s time to work, and he’s he’s able to flip the switch.”

Echols worked as a Baltimore County Police officer for nearly five years before transferring to Taneytown in August 2022. He said he is also good with dogs, having been around them most of his life, and will use his role as Trigger’s handler to help improve relationships between the community and police.

“Taneytown definitely appreciates its officers and the department,” Echols said. “[Trigger is] another tool that we have to engage the community on all different levels.”

Inside a police traffic stop

A police officer may legally conduct a traffic stop on a vehicle deemed suspicious, Baker said, which may include having a dog brought to the scene to alert officers to the presence of illegal substances.

Police dogs are trained to alert their handler to the presence of drugs, and handlers are trained to read the dog and recognize the signal. Baker said sitting is an example of one way a canine could be trained to alert its handler. A K-9 alert establishes probable cause, which police may use to detain a suspect while a vehicle is being searched.

Garrison said he will not certify a dog that erroneously signals to its handler that drugs are present.

“I don’t like dogs that false alert,” Garrison said, “so he’s not permitted to have a false in my certification.”

Police must conclude a traffic stop in a “reasonable amount of time,” a legal term taken to mean 15 to 20 minutes. Baker said it took about that long to write a ticket before the process was automated.

Because the department has a narrow window to initiate a drug search, a K-9 unit most likely will not be available in time, either because the unit is too far away, otherwise engaged, or because there is no active unit that day. Baker said officers could be aware that something is amiss, but unable to do anything to address the problem. He hopes Trigger will change that.

“All our resources, we share them with our allied agencies,” Baker said, “so it won’t only be beneficial exclusively to Taneytown, but the sheriff’s department, the state police, or even another municipality may call, and we’ll do our best to help them out.”

Echols said adopting Trigger represents starting a new chapter of his life, with a new companion.

“My role as a patrol officer doesn’t change,” Echols said. “The idea is that the dog doesn’t change anything that I can do as a regular patrol officer; all it does is give the department the extra benefit of being able to detect narcotics and track people. I am at the beck and call of any other officers working in the region, whether that’s Westminster city, whether that’s the sheriff’s office, or any other allied agencies in the county. If they did need a canine, our chief is pretty adamant about working with other agencies, helping other agencies in any way we can, and this is a very big part of that.”