K9 Storm: Bringing the “thunder” to Centerville Police Department

Last Tuesday, as Centerville Mayor and Council reached the point in its agenda where members were discussing matters regarding the newest addition to the city’s K9 unit, the sky seemed to open up and the downpour of rain was accompanied by thunder that held some attendees captive inside city hall even after the meeting had adjourned. Several minutes would pass before the downpour lessened and everyone could escape to awaiting vehicles without the threat of being drenched.

The following afternoon, as Houston Home Journal met with Storm and his human partner, K9 Officer Mike Nelson, for a brief photo shoot, thunder and rain that was forecasted not to begin until more than two hours later, suddenly started only moments after K9 Storm jumped out of the backseat of the official police truck.

Coincidental? Maybe … maybe not.

K9 Storm is a beautiful brown and white speckled German Shorthaired Pointer. He joined K9 Kali on the Centerville Police Department team less than a month ago, filling the void that was left by K9 Bono. Bono, a Belgian Shepherd, had been with CPD since 2017, but left in June after mayor and council agreed to allow Lt. Sauls to purchase him as his personal dog. Sauls relocated to another area, but he and K9 Bono had worked together for such an extended period of time and had developed a bond that would not have been in the best interest of the dog or the department to break.

Nelson, Storm’s owner, formerly worked for another law enforcement agency before joining Centerville’s police force at the beginning of this year. He explained, “K9 Storm is my personal dog and my work dog. When I worked at my other department, he was my dog over there. I purchased the dog strictly for work. I paid for him out of my own funds, so he’s personally or privately funded compared to a department actually paying for it.” Nelson further stated, “He is a narcotics tracking dog, meaning he sniffs out all illegal narcotics, but also, if a child were to get lost in the middle of a park or in a neighborhood or even in the woods; or if we were doing a chase and the guy takes off running—K9 Storm is trained to find that individual. He is a tracking dog, so he will track that odor until he comes in contact with it.”

K9 Storm has already brought the thunder, which apparently follows him, to CPD. At Tuesday’s council meeting, Mayor John Harley said, “I see some of the things that K9 Storm does and I see these daily police reports that come through… I’m very pleased with that. We haven’t had K9 involvement to that extent in a long time. He has assisted other agencies like Warner Robins and that’s what we’re all out there for—to help each other.”

Regarding that particular incident, Nelson said, “Yes, he assisted Warner Robins in a traffic arrest where somebody ran from them. The guy took off on foot, and K9 Storm was able to track where he went and that led to him being taken into custody. Since he’s been in Centerville, Storm has been a part of multiple felony arrests that involved narcotics.”

K9 Storm, who just turned three years old on June 2, is growing in popularity in Centerville and beyond. One could argue that he is somewhat of a celebrity. Since the fireworks celebration that was held in Center Park at Centerville on July 3, his social media following has increased substantially. Yes… K9 Storm has a fan following and the interactions on his Facebook and Instagram pages prove it.

“If you look at Facebook, you’ll see pictures of him all over the place [from the holiday weekend] interacting with people,” Nelson shared. “Everybody wanted to take pictures with him; they wanted to pet him. Some K9s, because they are aggressive and trained to be bite dogs, you’re not allowed to pet,” he explained, “but Storm’s not that kind of dog. He’s not an apprehension dog, he’s a narcotics tracking dog. As police, we want the community to feel comfortable enough to come talk to us. That’s one of the reasons that my wife and I walked around the park with him on last Saturday. Yes, he was working, but was just like any normal human partner that I could have had walking around the park with me. In the time he’s been here, Storm has helped to bring the community and the police relationship back together.”

Nelson revealed that the K9’s social media pages have also been beneficial in helping him get some of the much-needed equipment needed for Storm’s duties as a member of the police force.

“Since K9 Storm is self-funded and I had to use my own dollars to get him started—that stuff gets expensive. I reached out to a friend of mine who has a very large following with his K9. He gave me the idea to start up a social media platform just for Storm. What happens is when you do that, and you reach out to companies, such as K9 Strong, Inc. out of Florida, which is a nonprofit organization that helps all K9s with getting equipment, they try to help.

Nelson went on to share that Jenna, CEO of K9 Strong, Inc., contacted him after he made the social media page. She inquired about Storm’s needs and then shifted into action to assist. Because of K9 Strong’s efforts and the generosity of the public, Storm was granted a vest that would have cost Nelson over $1,300 to purchase.

“Us getting that approval from city council at Tuesday’s meeting (the permission to connect Storm’s social media pages with Centerville City Government’s pages) was partially to promote nonprofit organizations that are helping us fund the training and equipment for Storm,” Nelson said.

K9 Storm was imported from Croatia, and Nelson said dogs like him cost thousands of dollars. Because of where he received much of his training, all of Storm’s commands are given in German, but he also understands universal hand signals and is now getting accustomed to some English commands.

According to Nelson, K9 Storm went through a rigorous four-week narcotics training school to learn the stellar skills that makes him worthy of being considered one of Centerville’s finest.

“He is a family dog who goes home with me every night,” Nelson said. “My kids love him. He sleeps in his own bed in the room with my wife and me. He doesn’t leave my side. Having Storm is like having another child … but a very mature one who sniffs out drugs and catches bad people,” he added with a laugh. “He’s an amazing dog.”

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