Cheyenne PD Credits K9 With Meth Bust
May 28, 2020 by Kate Nadolski
The arrest of two suspects and seizure of handfuls of illegal drugs is what’s proving officer Lisa Koeppel, with the Cheyenne Police Department in Wyoming and her K-9 named Tyler, are making quite the team.
“Proud momma is the best words to describe it,” said Koeppel.
Koeppel says finding those drugs and making the arrests were made much easier with K-9 Tyler by her side.
“We had a tip from one of our own narcotics team that this vehicle was going to be traveling from Denver to Montana,” Koeppel said. “We were able to find that vehicle on the interstate and pull it over for speeding. While the other officers were running the suspects driver’s licenses, I ran Tyler around the exterior of the vehicle for a free air sniff. She hit on it, and we ended up searching the car.” Officers found 5.6 pounds of methamphetamine, more than 30 grams each of heroin and cocaine, along with Xanax, and marijuana. The suspects involved could be facing numerous charges, including possession and intent to deliver.
Koeppel credits quick access to information within the department’s public safety system as what helped this operation run smoothly.
“When we looked up the license plate and driver’s licenses in our system, we were able to see that one individual had a suspended license,” Koeppel said. “Easy access to information is helpful in these situations where arrests are being made because we know almost instantly what kind of situation we’re dealing with.”
In addition, Koeppel says having K-9 Tyler on her team is making her more efficient in getting potential criminals off the streets.
“I need her to do those sniffs on the exterior of the vehicles to be able to get in and search them,” she said. “Even for our patrols, we found a couple of people who have caused serious accidents and then left the scene. K-9 Tyler was able to track them and find them. It’s been a benefit to both me and the victims of these crimes because we’re finding the suspects that run away.”
K-9 Tyler is quickly approaching one full year of service with the Cheyenne Police Department, after graduating from her certification program in May of 2019. She was awarded to the department after winning a grant from Tyler Technologies in 2017. Since then, Koeppel says the three-year-old Belgian Malinois has grown into a brilliant police K-9.
“It’s come to the point where she’s a fully rounded dog,” Koeppel explained. “I know she’s going to do the patrol work she needs to do, but I can still have her in public and she’s going to be friendly during demonstrations. She’s turned out to be a really strong dog overall.”
