In last week’s edition of The Forest-Blade, we introduced to you K-9 Maya with the Swainsboro Police Department. This week, we introduce to you Maya’s handler, Detective Clay Young, with the Swainsboro Police Department as this week’s featured Hometown Public Servant.
During a recent interview with Detective Clay Young and Trent Hall, Executive Director of The Housing Authority of the City of Swainsboro, Detective Young detailed the obstacles that must be overcome to bring a K-9 unit onto the force of Swainsboro Police Department.
“I’ve been in law enforcement for eight years now. After my first two years, I mentioned to Chief that we needed a dog. The process took about another four years before we could seriously pursue this goal, and, by then, it took an additional two years to build a relationship with the community that has helped aid in Maya’s purchase,” Detective Young stated.
Assisting the police department with this goal was Swainsboro Housing Authority’s Trent Hall and other board members.
“Swainsboro Housing assisted with the department obtaining grant money and also provided additional monetary donations to aid in the adoption of Maya, as well as Detective Young’s training and hotel,” said Hall.
The opportunity of working with Maya is second to none, according to Detective Young. He described their relationship as a very rewarding one, as has been their progress and achievements since bringing her on board at the police department.
“Working with Maya is like working with a 2-year old that has ADHD. She’s only 16 months old and has a lot of puppy still left in her, but to see her find items and locate people as she’s been trained to do, I know that those skills are deeply instilled in her to do the best job possible. She’ll find people and things that we sometimes cannot, and that helps us clean up the city,” Detective Young commented.
To begin their process of finding the perfect dog, the police department had to find the perfect school, and in their opinion, Custom K-9 Unlimited of Gainesville was the department’s ideal choice.
“We wanted a school that wasn’t a gimmick, and Custom K-9 Unlimited was definitely the best place to go to. They’re post-accredited with the Georgia Police Officers Association and Training and Standards, which is probably no easy task,” Detective Young relayed.
After selecting the school of choice, Detective Young then began his search for the perfect dog.
“We looked at approximately three to four dogs, but Maya seemed to perform the best when demonstrating skills. It didn’t take me long to decide that Maya was that perfect dog. She’s very methodical in her search pattern, which some of the other dogs lacked more in that area. We looked into getting a full-blooded Belgium Maluma as well as a Dutch Shephard, and a few others, but as soon as I saw Maya and her performance, I knew she was the dog our department needed,” Detective Young explained.
After selecting the ideal school and perfect dog, training began. When speaking to Detective Young, he advised that the training took one month and was held Monday through Friday, with Detective Clay and his selected K-9 getting to come home on the weekends. While training in Gainesville, Detective Young and Maya’s week consisted of 11-12 hour days, from sunup to sun down, as well as early morning track runs. Many hours were spent in the city of Gainesville, out performing public training so that Detective Young and K-9 Maya could utilize their education upon returning to Swainsboro.
“School was tough and so was the training. You have to pass a written exam, as well as prove that you are capable of handling and working with the selected dog perfectly. If you fail the written task, or if you are deemed unable to properly care for and work with the dog, then you don’t pass the class. The written test doesn’t consist of multiple choices, and you have to make at least a 75 in order to pass that portion and you have to be able to articulate everything.
Maya’s certification that she holds is nationally recognized as well. With this certification, which is one of the most important accomplishments to obtain, it’s a pass or fail. If we were to miss on the controlled substance side or detection side, we fail and that’s it,” Detective Clay stated.
“A lot of commitment is involved with Maya. I had to obtain the required equipment to utilize her service and make sure we have water and food on hand for her. From the very first week, you start taking her home to build that bond. If you just get her out to work, there’s not that social bond.
When she’s home, she’s off. If you have a dog that’s a family pet, you’d let it roam around the house. With her, of course, we can’t do that. She’s got a special diet, plus you don’t want any mistakes to happen. She’s done really well and we’ve had no issues. We’ve got a concrete slab set up with pen and cover and kennel, all supplies being furnished.
During the day, if I’m at home, she’s outside in her designated area, and at night, she’s inside with me. I have also stationed cameras around my home property to ensure Maya’s safety. I’m ultimately her bodyguard. There’s a lot of aspects involved between Maya and myself, but all in all - we have to have each other’s back, and we do,” Detective Young further stated.
In addition to the training and being sure the proper equipment was on hand to obtain K-9 Maya, Detective Young and other officers at the Swainsboro Police Department had to take on another task with their chosen K-9 – learning a new language.
“Maya came from the Netherlands. When she was trained, her trainers spoke Dutch, and that’s why her commands are mostly in Dutch. We’ve attempted to give orders in English, but she doesn’t respond as well. She will respond at times, if I’m there, but more times than not, she responds to Dutch best,” Detective Young commented.
Though she holds many skills, K-9 Maya is not trained as an apprehension dog. However, though she’s not trained to apprehend, that doesn’t guarantee that she won’t bite. Detective Young explained it best by saying: “She’s a trained law enforcement service dog with teeth. Once she’s put to work, she’s in work mode. Maya is a police dog, and what I mean by that is, she uses her nose, sight and hearing, and she’s fast, really, really fast.”
Through all of the hard work and dedication to obtain K-9 Maya, Detective Young described the day he received the adoption papers for his four-legged friend and co-worker as a very proud moment.
“We appreciate the housing authority and board members for helping us obtain Maya. I wouldn’t trade her for anything. I know she’s there for me and I’m there for her. Other officers at the SPD are training with her and all have shown interest and, basically, fallen in love with her,” he stated.
“Our main goal with assisting to obtain Maya for the police department was safe housing and a safer city, and Maya has helped us accomplish that. We are grateful for the opportunity to help the community and our local law enforcement,” Hall stated.
Following this particular interview, Detective Young and Hall assisted us in better highlighting the agency’s newest member by allowing The Blade to livestream Maya in action. Hall was able to locate vacant housing for Maya to conduct a search for hidden drugs placed by the Swainsboro Police Department. Following this exercise, The Blade, Detective Young, K-9 Maya, Hall and SPD Officer Matthew Williams traveled to a wooded area, where Officer Williams and Detective Young staged a human search. This footage can be viewed by visiting The Forest-Blade’s Facebook page, Emanuel County Live, as well as its website emanuelcountylive.com.
