Community big supporters of Marysville K-9 unit

MARYSVILLE — Police officer Derek Oates and his four-legged partner Ranger have helped track down hundreds of suspects in their five years together.

Oates might be the German shepherd’s handler, but he likes to think many people in and around Marysville share in Ranger’s success.

Ranger and other Marysville police dogs get free vet and chiropractic care. At Vinaccio Coffee, proceeds from a roasted blend support the Marysville Police Department K-9 program. A local woman stops by the station each year to make sure Ranger and Hawkeye, another of the agency’s police dogs, get tennis balls for fetch and that Katy, the department’s black Labrador retriever narcotics dog, has towels to play tug of war.

Lately, Cold Water Boats of Marysville has been building a custom-made cage for Oates’ patrol vehicle. Powder-Fab of Arlington plans to provide a powder-coated finish. The equipment would have cost thousands of dollars otherwise.

Oates said he is grateful for the outside help the department has received over the years for the police dog program. The city pays for the dogs’ food, but much of the equipment and supplies, and even the dogs themselves, are purchased with help from the community.

“Even in a tough economic climate, people have still been giving,” Oates said. “I think the community feels a part of it.”

That’s the way it has been from the beginning of the program in 2001. Contributions and volunteer fundraising has helped pay for protective bite gear used in training, harnesses, leads and other miscellaneous expenses.

Patrol officer Stacey Dreyer was a driving force in the department’s police dog unit. These days, he works with Hawkeye.

Dr. Tim O’Rourke, a veterinarian and member of the Marysville Rotary Club, has been an important part of the program from the start. He continues to provide free medical care, even after moving his practice from Marysville to Mount Vernon.

“He has been the constant giver of all vet care, even after (the dogs) retire,” Oates said.

O’Rourke helped the department buy one of its dogs early on.

“I have a strong belief in the human-animal bond and that police dogs can help make our communities safer,” O’Rourke said.

Oates said help often pours in based on a particular need at a given moment in time.

Recently, Cascade Natural Gas provided the police dog program with a $5,000 grant. It’s paying for special equipment for the department’s police dog vehicles that will allow officers to pop open doors for quicker deployment. The technology also has heat sensors that will notify officers in the field when their vehicles get too hot for the dogs inside. It cracks open windows automatically.

The grant application caught the company’s attention.

“We decided it was a great cause,” said Chandra Marek, Cascade’s Northwest regional director.

Oates had long wanted to be part of the police-dog program. Early in his career, he volunteered to be the quarry in training exercises.

“You learn so much being the bad guy,” he said.

Now he and Ranger pool their skills in tracking down the real bad guys.

“It’s just a big game of hide and seek for him,” Oates said. “He just loves his job.”

Oates is thankful for the opportunity.

“The city is so supportive of the canine program from the mayor down,” Oates said. “I think the community feels more a part of it.”

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Lynnwood
Crash in Lynnwood fully blocks Highway 99

The crash, on Highway 99 at 176th Street SW, fully blocked southbound lanes. Traffic was diverted to 168th Street SW.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Search underway to find missing Everett child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday morning at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.