BENICIA, Calif. — After eight years of catching bad guys, Jazz will retire next month from the Benicia Police Department.
That's about 56 dog years.
The 10-year-old Belgian Malinois dog will end his services Sept. 1, and will be replaced by a much younger German Shepherd purchased through a private donation.
"I don't think he understands that he's not going to work anymore," Jazz's handler Officer Jake Heinemeyer said.
Heinemeyer has been Jazz's handler since 2008, and is also his third.
Starting their career almost at the same time, Heinemeyer said he had always known that the option of being a K-9 officer was available, and applied when the position opened up.
"I'm a dog lover," he said. "This is an opportunity to go to work and be with a dog at the same time. I've seen Jazz in action and I've always respected him."
After retirement, Jazz will live with Heinemeyer. He purchased him from the city of Benicia for $1, a common practice for retiring K-9 dogs, police said.
Jazz is one of two of Benicia Police Department's K-9 dogs, Benicia police spokesman Lt. Mike Daley said.
The department has already bought his replacement, Bak, a Netherland-born, 18-month-old German Shepherd using a private donation from the Syar Foundation of Napa, Daley said.
The $11,700 donation allowed the department to purchase Bak and a bullet-proof vest for his protection, he said.
"Without their generous donation, we may not have been able to secure funding to buy another police canine," Daley said.
Bak was purchased from Vigilant Canine Services International, Red Bluff, in late July, he said.
He will be paired with Officer Kirk Keffer, and will start their duties in about two months, after the required training, he said.
Each Benicia police canine and its handler have to go through about 320 hours of patrol and narcotic training before going on duty, Heinemeyer said.
The Solano County Sheriff's Office Canine Unit, which trains Benicia police's K-9 teams monthly at no charge, will also train Bak, Daley said.
When asked what was his feelings about going back to work without Jazz, Heinemeyer said, "It'll be nice not to have barking or hot breath on my neck all the time, but at the same time, I'll miss that."