Officer Garrett Mittan never really had a chance.

The Columbus Police Department officer took off, running as fast as his thickly-padded blue and safety orange suit allowed. He only made it a couple of seconds before CPD’s newest member caught up to him and — in flash of brown and black leapt shoulder-height into the air — dragged him to the ground.

Stanley, a 2-year-old Belgian Malinois, kept a tight hold on Mittan until his partner officer and handler, Mo Eguires, ordered him to let go. The brief pursuit was part of a public demonstration to showcase Stanley’s skills Friday afternoon at the Columbus soccer complex.

The suit protected Mittan from any harm, and he was quickly back on his feet for another demonstration. In one, he stayed stationary as he made aggressive sounds and gestures until Eguires ordered Stanley to subdue him. In another, Stanley stayed back until Mittan showed aggression toward Eguires. Then the dog leapt to the defense of his handler.

After the demonstration, Mittan said it was hard not to be nervous waiting on Stanley to strike, even though he’s Eguires’ neighbor and already knows the dog.

The biggest takeaway, he said, is that it was nearly impossible to keep going once Stanley caught him.

“He’s an 80-pound fur missile coming right at you,” Mittan said. “It’s hard to stay on your feet, definitely.”

Tuesday, the Columbus city council approved Stanley’s purchase, for $8,900. Eguires said the purchase price for Stanley was as a “green” dog, with only obedience and basic tracking training. With Stanley’s added training, Eguires said he could sell for $12,000-$13,000.

Eguires and Stanley train in DeSoto County. Their training lasts from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Thursday. Training began with familiarizing the dogs with narcotics odors and added in patrol work after a few weeks.

Eguires said they have two weeks of training and one week for certification left, and should begin work at the end of the month.

Stanley is trained in multiple areas, including tracking, narcotics detection and suspect apprehension. The dog performed them all Friday, through an article recovery and tracking exercise, an exercise during which he sniffed out a bag of narcotics hidden in a patrol car and several take-down demonstrations.

Stanley could tell what he needed to do for each demonstration based on the collar or harness he was wearing and where his leash hooked onto it.

Eguires said Stanley provides several benefits for the department, including for public relations.

One of the most important benefits, though, Eguires added, is that a police dog’s presence can often diffuse situations before they begin.

“He’s a force multiplier,” Eguires said. “If I’m standing here and we’re having a conversation with somebody, they are more likely to run if they know there’s no dog. If there’s a dog around, nine times out of 10, people are saying ‘I don’t want anything to do with that.'”

Eguires uses two languages to command Stanley. He said that’s to keep people from knowing what commands he’s giving the Stanley, and also to prevent anyone else from inadvertently or purposely telling the dog what to do.

“We don’t want anybody else to come up and start talking to the dog,” Eguires said. “Not that he would listen, but just to avoid any confusion at all, we just use different languages.”

Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.

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