Seven years ago, the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office hired a new K9 by the name of QT. QT is an explosive trained black lab that was primarily assigned to work at county schools with his handler Corporal Eric Patterson. On Tuesday, January 25, 2022, at approximately 2:00 pm, QT officially retired from his home away from home with Sheriff Matthew Wade officiating this bittersweet event.
After graduating from his training at I-K9, now known as Vapor Wake K9 Academy in Anniston, QT was put into action with the Sheriff’s Office. QT was one of the first explosive dogs in Calhoun County and was trained to detect over 30 different scents that included firearms, ammunition, firearm magazines, explosives, and much more. He was not aggression trained so he became the ideal ambassador to work within the school system and interact with children. Cpl. Patterson said that because of his kind personality he was excellent with the kids and enjoyed interacting with them. Cpl. Patterson also said that even when QT is interacting with the children, he was still working all the time. Patterson advised that during a training session he had QT distracted by being pet and interacting with others and then had someone simply walk past them with some ammunition in their pocket. QT immediately stood up and walked away from the pets and followed the person with the scent he was trained to lock onto. Cpl. Patterson was extremely happy to know that even if the kids were interacting with him that QT was still on the job and working to keep them safe.
During the course of his K9 career QT has assisted with the location of evidence for other agencies as well as the Sheriff’s Office. QT may have been assigned to work full time in the schools, but he was also called in to work the streets with other officers as they searched for criminal evidence. Sheriff Wade stated that QT and Cpl. Patterson were textbook “community policing 101” because they were so important to the kids at the school as well as to the community as a whole for the law enforcement services, they provided to help keep people safe.
Jesica Fleming, Director of Training at Vapor Wake K9 Academy, stated that she knows QT and has worked with him in the past. The training for an explosive detecting K9 can be more intensive as they have to keep up with so many different scents. Each explosive detection K9 is recommended to do maintenance training at least once per week which can be very time consuming due to the different types of weapon substances there are. She also advised that Vapor Wake would come to the schools and work with multiple agency K9 units in different techniques. Not all K9’s are trained the same way or in the same disciplines so it is good to work with other K9 teams.
Sheriff Wade gave a speech thanking QT for his service to the community and presented a retirement award to Cpl. Patterson. The Sheriff’s Office also provided a dog friendly retirement cake for QT which he gratefully devoured in seconds.
Cpl. Patterson said that although QT is officially retired, he will remain training for the various scents in case there is an emergency and the Sheriff’s Office needs to recall him for a special assignment. Other than that training QT will now be able to fully enjoy living “off duty” with Cpl. Patterson on the farm where he can run and play with the grandkids and grown kids that he knows and loves.
The Calhoun County Journal would like to thank QT for all of his service to the community and for Cpl. Patterson taking the time and patience to be a dedicated K9 handler during QT’s career.
