{"id":10612,"date":"2023-12-08T11:28:49","date_gmt":"2023-12-08T16:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/?p=10612"},"modified":"2023-12-08T11:28:50","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T16:28:50","slug":"decatur-police-losing-k-9-patrolman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/2023\/12\/08\/decatur-police-losing-k-9-patrolman\/","title":{"rendered":"Decatur police losing K-9, patrolman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By BOB SHRALUKA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WZBD.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The City of Decatur is losing two police officers, one of whom is a retiring K-9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other is patrolman Blaze Brooks, who officially left the department as of Dec. 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several city police officers were on hand for Tuesday’s meeting of the board of works and safety for the announcement of the retirement of K-9 Ivar, who was on hand with his handler, Corey Hamm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe is retiring to a nice home with Corey’s family. He has served the city well for six years,\u201d Police Chief Kevin Gerber told the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hamm (in photo with Ivar) selected the dog in February of 2018 and he officially joined the department after completing training in June of that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIvar has been a great asset to our department,\u201d Gerber noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Dan Rickord thanked Hamm for his time with Ivar. \u201cIt takes a lot of work and extra hours. And I thank the community for all their support; a lot of people have contributed (food, medicine, etc.),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rickord pointed out, too, that K-9 officers \u201cprovide safety for all our officers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explaining that Ivar has made over 300 drug seizures and helped out over 600 times, Hamm said the dog \u201chas been a definite asset.\u201d He added that many suspects will run to avoid being confronted by a police dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hamm also thanked the community \u201cfor all their strong support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hamm joined the department in February of 2011 and graduated with honors from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. He has an associate\u2019s degree in criminal justice from Indiana University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last March, he was promoted to lieutenant detective, filling a vacancy which came about when Gerber was promoted to chief following the resignation of Leonard Corral Jr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

BROOKS GONE: Brooks left the department as of last Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe said this career was not for him so he’s moving on,\u201d Chief Gerber told the board.
In his resignation letter, Brooks said, \u201cI’m departing on my own free will.\u201d The mayor thanked him for his service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department is currently taking applications for a new hire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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