West Dundee K-9 Officer Rocco retires
By Erin Sauder For The Courier-News January 25, 2012 9:18AM
Retiring West Dundee K-9 Rocco and handler Sgt. Jason Antonacci. Submitted
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Updated: February 27, 2012 8:41AM
WEST DUNDEE — The most recently retired member of the West Dundee Police Department has been spending his time out of the office sprawled on the couch with a chew toy.
Rocco, the department’s service dog, has retired after nearly seven years on the job.
“This was our first canine, so it was kind of rough to see him leave,” said West Dundee Police Chief Andrew Wieteska.
The 7-year-old Belgian Malinois began serving with the village in December 2005. He was specifically trained for tracking, area searches and explosive detection with his handler, Jason Antonacci.
Antonacci’s recent promotion from officer to sergeant is the reason for Rocco’s early retirement. Many police dogs usually retire around the age of 8 or 9.
Homeland Security Funds received by the police department in 2005 made the creation of the K-9 unit possible, and allowed both Antonacci and Rocco to undergo training.
During Rocco’s tenure, he went on 134 calls, 52 of those explosives-related where he would look for possible bombs that may have been placed in a building or vehicle.
“There are not many explosives-trained dogs in the Chicago suburbs, so he got called all over the area,” Antonacci said.
Rocco also helped with gun searches and security sweeps.
Antonacci opted to become a handler because “it’s something I always wanted to do as a police officer.”
“I’m always trying to get involved in as many parts of the job that I can,” he said.
During Rocco’s career with the West Dundee police, his vet care services were donated by Dundee Animal Hospital.
Although Rocco enjoys naps on the couch, he is still not used to being in retirement.
“In the evening when I get my uniform on, he starts running around crying and he gets all excited,” Antonacci said. “I have to tell him, ‘You’re not coming, buddy.’ But he has my wife and daughter and our other dog to keep him occupied.”
Antonacci misses working with his four-legged sidekick.
“The first few shifts were very strange,” he said.
Wieteska hopes the West Dundee Police Department will be able to get another service dog in the future.
“Rocco always brought a lot of energy when he came running up to everybody,” he said.
For Antonacci, there is one perk to not working alongside his four-legged friend day in and day out.
“I’m getting some of my hearing back,” he said with a laugh. “All the barking is the one thing I don’t miss.”
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