Died – 5\/3\/17
\nHandler – Officer Chad Bender<\/p>\n
Coralville Police Department’s first K-9 officer ‘Ivan’ remembered<\/p>\n
About two years ago, Ivan, the Coralville Police Department\u2019s first K-9 officer, was diagnosed with cancer. Ivan\u2019s veterinarians gave the Belgian Malinois \u2014 who was partnered with officer Chad Bender for his entire career \u2014 about four months to live. But, for the next four months and for months after that, Ivan refused to give in, Coralville Police Chief Shane Kron said Friday. \u201cHe went for two years,\u201d Kron said. \u201cHe was really very active. I know there were a couple of moments Chad thought we were getting near the end. He would just kind of come back. He would seem to get over it and he\u2019d be running around. Chad would say, \u2018I think we\u2019re OK.\u2019 \u201d On Wednesday, Ivan and Bender went to work together one last time. \u201cThat dog loved to go to work,\u201d Kron said. \u201cHe did what he loved to do.\u201d That afternoon, Bender took Ivan to a veterinarian in Cedar Rapids and Ivan was put to sleep. That afternoon, the police department had a ceremony at Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service in Coralville. An American flag was draped over Ivan\u2019s body. \u201cThey did a nice job of honoring the dog who served for 10 years,\u201d Kron said. \u201cHe did his job.\u201dIvan was the Coralville Police Department\u2019s first K-9 officer. He came from Mid-Michigan Kennels in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, and was trained in patrol and narcotics detection. Kron said Ivan and Bender helped the department seize heroin, ecstasy, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine. Ivan was responsible for 19 apprehensions, but Kron said he can\u2019t remember a single time the dog had to bite a suspect. \u201cEvery time I can ever think of using the dog, the person gave up because we had the dog,\u201d Kron said. \u201cA guy came out of a ceiling when we said come out or we\u2019re going to put the dog up there and he\u2019s going to find you and bite you. As soon as we said that, the guy said, \u2018I\u2019m coming out.\u2019 \u201d Ivan also was a valuable public relations resource for the department, Kron said. Kron would bring the dog to Junior Achievement classes, which was always a highlight for the participants. \u201cThe public loves Ivan,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen he shows up, cops might as well go sit in their cars because Ivan was the center of attention. He was good with people. I think he really understood his purpose.\u201d But Ivan\u2019s first duty was to protect members of the department, Kron said. And Ivan served that purpose well, he said.\u201cEverybody on this department has an appreciation for and can name times the dog has gone into a building or gone somewhere so we didn\u2019t have to risk an officer going in there,\u201d Kron said. \u201cI don\u2019t think anybody isn\u2019t appreciative of what Ivan did over 10 years.\u201d Kron said the department will immediately move to find Ivan\u2019s replacement. But Ivan won\u2019t soon be forgotten. Kron said the department plans to have a tree planted in Ivan\u2019s honor. \u201cIt will always be Ivan\u2019s tree,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Died – 5\/3\/17 Handler – Officer Chad Bender Coralville Police Department’s first K-9 officer ‘Ivan’ remembered About two years ago, Ivan, the Coralville Police Department\u2019s first K-9 officer, was diagnosed with cancer. Ivan\u2019s veterinarians gave the Belgian Malinois \u2014 who was partnered with officer Chad Bender for his entire career \u2014 about four months to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[42],"class_list":["post-3273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-k9memorial","tag-ia"],"yoast_head":"\n