Handler – Officer Glen McClelland<\/p>\n
Last ride for former Marietta K-9<\/p>\n
The importance of the role that police dogs play in law enforcement was underscored Friday morning as the Marietta Police Department and several other agencies from around the region gathered to pay tribute to Diego, a police dog that served Marietta for nearly seven years. Diego was close to 2 years old when he started with the department in October 2007. He retired in early 2014, afflicted, as many large dogs are, with arthritis, after a career of helping to catch criminals and to find lost people. Diego died in late March, and on Friday received Last Ride honors, with a motorcade from Don Drumm Stadium to police headquarters. Putnam Street was lined with officers and firefighters who saluted as the vehicles filled both lanes in the block and the police radio announced End of Watch for him. Officer Glen McClelland was Diego\u2019s handler and partner during his time with the force and became his companion in retirement. \u201cHe was a great dog, he just loved people, especially kids,\u201d McClelland said Friday after the Last Ride ceremony. \u201cHe always wanted to play, to get out his toys.\u201d He remembered Diego as both an asset to his work and an ambassador for the police. \u201cHe was a hard worker, doing tracking, searches, drug detection \u2013 90 percent of a K-9\u2019s work is with his nose \u2013 but he also loved being socialized, doing demonstrations for children and the public, like the ones we do during the sternwheel festival,\u201d he said. Once he and Diego got acquainted, McClelland said, he would take the dog into the squad room with him at night to write reports. \u201cHe\u2019d sleep under my desk while I did the paperwork, but he never slept in the car,\u201d McClelland said. The two were together around the clock for seven years, and when Diego retired he took up full-time residence at the McClelland household. \u201cAt first he missed the work \u2013 when I\u2019d get ready to go to work, he lay on my boots because that was the last thing I\u2019d put on before we went out the door,\u201d he said. \u201cHe was sort of depressed at first, but he transitioned well, and enjoyed being at home with my wife and daughter.\u201d After Diego\u2019s retirement, McClelland began working with his successor, Edo.\u201cYou develop a unique bond, every dog is different,\u201d he said. Even so, Diego was something special. Toni Roach, a dispatcher at the department, is also licensed to officiate marriages and performed the honors at the ceremony in August 2012 when McClelland married his wife, Nicole. Nicole\u2019s father had died, and to Glen\u2019s surprise, Roach said, Diego walked his bride down the aisle. Roach recalls McClelland bringing Diego in at the end of a shift. \u201cI had treats, and he knew where they were,\u201d she said. The first \u2013 and last \u2013 time Roach decided to \u201ctake a bite\u201d or have the experience of being taken down by a police dog, Diego was her instructor. She put the protective cast on her arm and got ready.\u201cAn officer came up and stood behind me, he said he was going to catch me,\u201d Roach remembers.\u201cI said I didn\u2019t think that was necessary \u2013 Diego was only a couple feet away \u2013 but when he hit me I would have gone right over. \u201cI remember the first time he took down a runner, somebody they were trying to serve a warrant on,\u201d Roach said. \u201cHe was such a nice dog, you forget what he could do.\u201d McClelland said Diego died after suffering a paralyzing stroke in late March. He was 13 years old. Representatives of law enforcement agencies from around the region came to participate in the Last Ride ceremony. Diego\u2019s name will be engraved on a plaque bearing the names of the department\u2019s other K-9 members and their dates of service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Handler – Officer Glen McClelland Last ride for former Marietta K-9 The importance of the role that police dogs play in law enforcement was underscored Friday morning as the Marietta Police Department and several other agencies from around the region gathered to pay tribute to Diego, a police dog that served Marietta for nearly seven …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6810,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-6808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-k9memorial","tag-oh"],"yoast_head":"\n