East Texas

By ADAM RUSSELL
Staff Writer

WHITEHOUSE — Big hearts come in small packages. That was the gist of Melissa Stanley’s summation of six pre-teen girls’, including two of her own daughters, giving of their time and effort for a part of her community, the Whitehouse Police Department.

Their gift, one that K-9 handling Officer Jordan Hill hopes never sees dangerous duty, will at least give him peace-of-mind knowing it is there for his 3-year partner, Saphir, a Belgian Malinois. The girls, who now call themselves the Canine Crew, recently raised enough money to purchase a bulletproof and stab resistant vest for the dog.

The idea started simply enough with 10-year-old Ashleigh Stanley watching an Animal Planet program about a young Colorado girl that raised money for her local law enforcement K-9 unit after one of their German Shepherd’s was killed in the line of duty. The dog was not protected, but through fundraising efforts the girl supplied the department with multiple dog vests.

Ashleigh decided she could do the same for her local department. After getting permission from her initially skeptical mother, she and her 6-year-old sister, Lauren recruited four other neighborhood girls to visit the Whitehouse department and ask if a vest was needed.

They met Chief Rick Waller and Jordan, took a tour of the station and were told that a vest would be an appreciated addition for the unit. Jordan himself was skeptical of the girls’ ability to deliver on the vest.

“I was thinking ‘Here are these girls, and their age and that it was a hefty chore’ (to raise enough money for the vest),” he said.

Jordan said he had checked, prior to the girls’ involvement, on a vest for Saphir and found that basic bulletproof vest prices could run into the thousands of dollars. Within 48 hours the girls gave Jordan an update on the fundraising. They had more than $150. Jordan became a believer. Three weeks later, after going door-to-door through neighborhoods and placing donation boxes in local businesses, the Canine Crew presented the department and a speechless Jordan with a check for $1,188.65. He said suppliers have been contacting him about vests and he expects the department will be able to purchase a custom fit bulletproof and stab-resistant model for Saphir soon. On typical days, the narcotics locating and tracking dog will not need the vest, Jordan said, but being prepared for a possibly dangerous encounter assuages any concerns. Tracking a criminal in an unknown situation represents the most dangerous position for him or the dog to be in, he said.

“(Saphir’s) a dog but he should have the same protection we wear. They are officers, too,” Jordan said. “When you are on a track you never know.”

Waller said without the girls’ initiative and concern the department would not have been able to provide protection for the dog. It just wasn’t affordable given their budget. The girls’ fundraising was a big lift for the department and the community, he said.

It means even more than that to Jordan. He lives with Saphir 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He doesn’t consider the dog a friend or a co-worker, he considers Saphir family. He said the security provided from the vest will help him on a dark night, tracking through unfamiliar ground with a keyed in K-9 at the end of the line. It will add a little more comfort to a scary situation, he said.

He said Whitehouse should celebrate the Canine Crew and contemplate what six young girls in a town of 7,500 accomplished in a short time. He said the fact that they have discovered that giving rather than receiving makes the community stronger is overwhelming.

Ashleigh and the Canine Crew are now preparing to raise money for other area K-9 units and have already contacted Longview about needs. She has been involved in animal activism before, her mother said, but the concern that her daughters and their friends showed for the dog, Jordan and the department displayed how giving they are.

“It is amazing,” Mrs. Stanley said. “I am proud as a parent but also proud as a citizen that young people took initiative to do something for others and to better their community.”

Whitehouse Police Officer Jordan Hill holds "Saphir" a Belgian Malinois police K-9 that will soon get a bulletproof vest.
(Staff photo by Herb Nygren Jr.)