Staff report
1:46 PM PST
Roseville Police Department's newest officer weighs in at a healthy
75 pounds. He's handsome too, with sleek black hair and exceptionally
large ears.
Roseville Police's newest canine officer team, Officer Ron
Goodpaster and his dog Drago, recently completed six intensive weeks of
basic police K-9 training and are now a state-certified police dog
team.
With the addition of Goodpaster and Drago, the Roseville Police
Department now has five active officer-and-dog teams.
The department purchased Drago and paid for his training and ongoing
care with a grant from the California Indian Gaming Distribution Fund.
The grant was made with the support of the Tribal Council of the United
Auburn Indian Community, which owns Thunder Valley Casino in
Lincoln.
Drago (his name means "Dragon") is a 3-year-old German shepherd. His
handler, Goodpaster, joined the Roseville Police Department in 2004
after serving 12 years as a deputy sheriff for Placer County. Before
Goodpaster acquired Drago, he served an initiation period of sorts on
the K-9 team as an agitator, wearing a full-body bite suit and posing
as a "bad guy" to help the dogs in their ongoing training.
In addition to their regular patrol duties, Roseville's K-9 teams
are called on more than 300 times a year by other officers and
neighboring law enforcement agencies to help locate suspects, search
buildings and detect hidden narcotics.
