Camden County Police Lieutenant Remembers Beloved K9 Zero

By Steve Tawa

CAMDEN, N.J., (CBS) -- One of Camden's "finest" has passed away, after a long career in the police department's K-9 Unit.

Zero, a black German Shepherd credited with 68 apprehensions - the most in state history - died of natural causes at the age of 12.

"Zero was the ultimate police dog."

He lived and worked with his handler, Lt. Zsakhiem James, since 2007.

"Armed suspects, violent suspects, people who would do harm to citizens or police officers."

Lt. James says all due respect to his fellow humans in the Camden County Police Department, Zero was a versatile "partner, hero and friend."

"He could go from catching bad guys to playing at a day care with a simple command."

In his later years, K-9 Officer Zero was more of an ambassador on the streets of Camden.

"All the children who would see us walking down the street, and they would drag their parents over to meet us and say, 'Hey mom, that's K-9 Zero, that's my friend, mom, I want to be a police officer, a K-9 officer when I grow up.' That's his legacy."

James, a police officer for 23 years, says before Zero became his partner, the department had not had a canine unit for 12 years. Now, it has a half dozen K-9 officers.