Sewickley K-9 Gets By With a Little Help From Friends

Tripp jumped from the squad car, tail wagging and tongue dangling, to join his handler in the parking lot.The excited black Labrador retriever leaped around, gave kisses and sniffed anything close enough to smell.

“His name is Tripp because he’s a trip,” said Sewickley Patrolman Frank Lesniak, who handles K-9 officer.

The canine addition joined the department a year and a half ago, but the brainstorming and planning for his arrival started long before then.

About three years ago, a group of eight local people got together to discuss the need for a K-9 officer in Sewickley. 

Don Reinhardt, owner of the and treasurer of the K-9 committee, said its members brought their appeal to council. Other members include Rick Diemert, president, Nathalie Lemieux, vice president, Vicki Stinson, secretary, Elise Wright, Nellie Kraus, Liz Thompson and Peter Stinson.

With the borough’s blessing, they put together a package and a budget for the next three years.

For the past three years, the group has put on an annual K-9 Paddle Tennis Tournament. The response has generated the necessary funds to support the K-9 officer, raising not only enough money to purchase a dog, but also for training the K-9 and its handler. Those funds also covered a new K-9-friendly police car, complete with doors that pop open if it gets too hot for the dog.

This year, the K-9 Committee held its annual fundraiser April 2 at the Edgeworth Club, where  an all-day paddle tennis tournament and a silent auction raised $10,200, Reinhardt said. The money will be used to pay for upkeep, he said. 

Rhinehart, a dog lover who own Labrador retrievers, said Tripp is a great fit for Sewickley.

 “Tripp is here to protect the community and make their (officers) jobs easier,” Reinhardt said.  

Prior to officially joining the police force, Tripp attended a three-month training program. Lesniak also attended a five-week training program to prepare him to work effectively with the dog.

“We’re still meshing,” Lesniak said. “It’s still taking time.”

He said the two still train together more than the mandatory two-day-per-month sessions. Two to three times per week, Lesniak works with Tripp in the woods or at the gun range, setting up scavenger hunts using Drug Enforcement Agency-issued drugs such as cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamine and heroin. The training helps to sharpen Tripp’s instincts and search skills, which are already near-perfect.

“If there’s a car or house he has to search, if it’s in there, he’ll find it,” Lesniak said.

On Wednesday, Lesniak and Sewickley Police Chief James Ersher took Tripp to  School for a demonstration with third-graders. Ersher and Lesniak previously agreed to hide a bag of marijuana in a garbage can, and Lesniak left the room with the dog. While the K-9 was away, the kids decided the garbage can was too obvious a hiding place, and Ersher went on a hunt to stash the drugs in a new place. When Lesniak returned with the dog, Ersher said he watched Tripp in amazement.

“He followed the exact path I took,” Ersher said.

Lesniak, meanwhile, was confused that the dog wasn’t headed to the pre-planned garbage can.

“I’m just the human,” Lesniak joked. “…His drive to find narcotics is never ending.”

On one traffic stop Lesniak obtained consent to walk Tripp around the outside of a car. The dog picked up a scent, and police found a small bud of marijuana in a baby food jar. He participated in a bust six months ago when he helped find 37 stamp bags of heroin during a traffic stop on Route 65, Lesniak said. The K-9 is also available to assist neighboring departments.

Tripp also does searches to detect missing people or guns.

“If a suspect drops a gun in the woods, or if I throw something, I don’t care where I hide it, he’ll find it,” Lesniak said.

Mayor Brian Jeffe said Tripp has been extremely successful so far.

"If you’ve not met him yet, he is a sweetheart,"Jeffe said.

Tripp will be strollling through the Village with Lesniak throughout the spring and summer. Reinhardt said business owners are pleased about that.

“The center of town is a big hang out,” Reinhardt said, adding that at times in the warm seasons it can get a bit rowdy. “They see Tripp, and they’re gone.”