Colorado lawmakers look to create stiffer penalties for those who harm police K9s

Colorado lawmakers are working to create stiffer penalties for those who harm police K9s. 

This comes following the shooting death of Graffit, a 10-year-old German Shepard with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office killed in the line of duty. The incident happened in early February, Graffit was attempting to apprehend an armed man.

Handlers with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office are on board with stiffer penalties. The office argued, its K9s are more than just a dog, they are partners as well as essential tools. 

For the suspect who shot and killed Graffit? They feel an animal cruelty charge is far too lenient.

"We're one of the 10 states that don't have a law like that so it's just animal cruelty right now, which doesn't carry much weight at all," deputy Chad Bingham said. "The time, the effort that they put into this job and what they mean to all of us- not just all of us here working but what they mean to our families and the community, there should be a little bit harsher penalty for something like that."

On Wednesday, the sheriff's office allowed CBS News Colorado to see first-hand how hard the K9s work and how much they love to do the job. 

"We are at the Fed Center. This is a nice training facility that they've allowed us and the Lakewood Police Department to us." Bingham continued, "So every Wednesday we get together as a group here and we do training as a group because oftentimes we go out and work together."

The team is comprised of a mix of Belgian Malinois and German Shepherds for a total of five K9s. While none of them are friends individually, they're all surprisingly friendly, unless told to be otherwise.

Deputy Bingham is on dog No. 2. His first one retired.

"He's at home with me, he's a couch dog now," Bingham laughed. "He helps my wife feed the chickens."

Before retirement, Bingham's dog, Paul, was anything but a couch dog.

"He was the greatest de-escalation tool we had. We would have hardcore people that would step up on SWAT that would say, 'we're not going' and they'd want to shoot it out with us, and I'd bring that guy out and the second they looked at that dog and that dog barked, they would give up," he said.

While the K9s are one non-lethal option the deputies have at their disposal, Bingham was quick to point out that their best skill is their nose. Not their aggression.

"Everybody always says it's the dog's teeth; it's not the dog's teeth, it's the nose. The human nose is the size of the membrane we have, a dog's is three feet by three feet. They can smell so many more things than we can and that's what we use them for," he said. 

For the last six months, Bingham has been training alongside his new partner, Dexter, a three-year-old Belgian Malinois.

So far, Dexter can sniff out people, shell casings and explosives.

"He's trained to find, I think we're on 15 different explosive odors at this point," Bingham said. 

You would never know the pair haven't known each other long but Bingham says, it's the hours they spend together. Training doesn't stop when Bingham clocks out.

"I spend more time with him than I do my family, so we have this huge bond together," Bingham said.

They have a routine. When Dexter sees Bingham in uniform;

"He'll stop whatever he's doing and run over to that garage door and start jumping up and down like, 'let's go, let's go, let's go!'" Bingham said.

It's what the dogs were historically bred for and while it's a risky job, loss of life is rare.

Graffit was the first K9 the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office has lost since they began working together in the 70s.

"They keep us safe. They go out in front of us just like Graffit, to find people so that we're safe," Bingham continued, "Graffit saved lives the other day, hands down."