BROOKINGS – Deputy Buddy specialized in drugs during his law enforcement career, taking part in some very large drug busts, according to his partner Deputy Manny Langstraat.
After six years with the Brookings County Sheriff’s Office, Buddy has retired to a life of toys and playing with Langstraat’s kids.
“I’ve already adopted him,” Langstraat confirmed.
Starting out
Buddy, an 8-year-old black Labrador, came to the BCSO from Jackson County when he was 2 years old, according to Sheriff Marty Stanwick.
“Jackson County had a deputy that trained with him. Then that deputy left Jackson County and the sheriff kept the dog and then turned it into DCI (Division of Criminal Investigations) and then DCI called me and said ‘Hey, you want a free dog?’ And I said ‘Yeah,’” Stanwick said.
Buddy trained with Shawn Hostler, who later resigned to go into another line of work.
“Manny’s actually the third handler with that dog. That doesn’t always work,” Stanwick said. “That’s one of the things that departments struggle with when they lose their handler, will (the dog) connect … team up with another? That’s what the problem is … will the dog bond with a new handler? It’s not so much the handler bonding with the dog,” Stanwick said.
Buddy was versatile enough to make the transition, Stanwick said, and he and Langstraat have gotten along fine.
Good thing, too, since most K-9 officers live with their handlers. Buddy has lived with Langstraat, his wife and four kids since January 2016.
Career
Like most working dogs, Buddy had a uniform of sorts, a vest that identified him as a deputy.
“He is (officially) considered equipment, but he is a living, breathing thing, so he’s a deputy,” Langstraat said.
Like any law enforcement officer, Buddy had ongoing training.
“Buddy always gets high marks on all the certifications,” Langstraat said.
Buddy was certified to work as a drug detection dog, able to seek out eight different odors, Langstraat said.
He said Buddy was called out an average of two or three times a month.
“Not very strenuous, but I don’t know what we’d do without a dog,” Langstraat said. “If you didn’t have him, that’s two or three people a month that you’re not catching, too.”
One of Buddy’s most recent highlights happened April 18.
“We got 10 pounds of marijuana on the interstate, with cocaine, ecstasy and Adderall,” Langstraat said.
“Over our partnership, we’ve gotten 74 drug arrests. That’s just narcotics, that’s not DUIs,” he added.
Every arrest is important since drug use took “quite a sharp increase” in recent years, said Langstraat. That increase has really made an impression on him since he started working with Buddy in 2016.
“Definitely there’s been an increase or a shift in behavior from marijuana and alcohol to more of methamphetamine, Adderall and some of the harder drugs,” Langstraat said.
That shift has made it “extremely” important to have the drug dogs.
“The dog is a very good tool. Say an officer pulls over a person” and suspects drugs are in the vehicle, Langstraat said. “They bring a dog to that scene, the dog sniffs out those narcotics and we’re able to get an arrest off that.
“Without that K-9 asset, then that person may have left and continued with their criminal activity,” Langstraat said
“Not only is that bringing a possibly impaired person off of the road and off the streets, we’re just making the community a better place, a safer place,” he said.
Stanwick didn’t hesitate to use Buddy in all kinds of situations.
“The dog is a good asset for the department,” he said.
Not only did Buddy help sniff out the drugs carried by criminals, but he could reassure law-abiding citizens that they are drug-free, too, and get a little extra training on the side.
“Someone buys a used car … They can call us up and we’ll run the dog around the car. Manny uses that as training,” Stanwick said.
Other training for Buddy included going through area schools, Stanwick said, adding they only do so by request from school administration.
“Since the dog’s purchased through the state of South Dakota, the Drug Forfeiture Fund, I’m willing to let the deputy assist the DCI,” Stanwick said.
Buddy has traveled to Huron to sniff a parcel because there wasn’t another dog available to do it.
Buddy has also made appearances at schools and civic organizations.
“We do demonstrations,” Langstraat said. “It just has to be requested and we’ll go wherever.”
Retirement
Buddy retired due to his age, Stanwick said.
“They’re good for about 8 years. Eight years is pushing it,” Stanwick said.
“It just depends on the dog,” Langstraat said. “When you start seeing signs that they’re getting tired and want to focus on other things, then it’s time. Their job is done and it’s time to move on.
“You start pushing a dog past its limits, it’s gonna be unreliable and we don’t want that,” Langstraat said.
That doesn’t mean Buddy is slowing down; Langstraat said his energy level is still high.
“People love to see us play together, just because of how energetic he is,” Langstraat said.
In early July, Brookings County commissioners approved selling Buddy to Langstraat for a dollar, as per sheriff’s department policy. It’s a common practice for the dog to retire with his handler.
Stanwick expects to get another dog, but when is still up in the air.
As for Buddy, he’s enjoying a comfortable retirement, being a family dog.
“Just keep having fun,” is how Langstraat describes Buddy’s retirement plans.
Langstraat himself is looking forward to one thing.
“One of the things that we can’t do as a working team is just to play with a random toy because all the toys have to be odored, so he knows that is his game. Now with him not being working, we can just play fetch,” he said.
Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.
Register photo: Deputy Buddy has retired from the Brookings County Sheriff’s Office and will be living out the rest of his life with Deputy Manny Langstraat. Buddy was with the BCSO for six years, partnering with Langstraat since 2016. As a drug detection dog, he was credited with dozens of drug arrests. Buddy’s plans for retirement are “just keep having fun,” according to Langstraat.
