“He’s single, he enjoys long walks, napping and chasing his favorite ball,” Police Chief Rich Ferguson said when he introduced Daavo (pronounced DAH-VO), Draper’s newest K-9 officer, to the city council in September.

All joking aside, Daavo is an award-winning narcotics detective who’s also been trained in patrol. He won many trophies, including first place at both state and national-level competitions in events such as vehicle and building drug-sniffs. In Draper, he’ll focus on narcotics. “We have four exits off of I-15 that come into our city. I-15 has been identified as a high intensity drug trafficking area. We have mutual aid with other departments in the valley, so he may be called to any other partner agency. It’s really good mutual aid with the K-9s,” Ferguson said. 

The city acquired Daavo for a mere $1 after his handler, Officer Ben Ricks, was recently hired by Draper. Ricks is an Army veteran who started in law enforcement in 2007. He previously worked for Unified Police and the Herriman Police Department. While in Herriman, he became Daavo’s handler. “They immediately bonded. Both excelled in their work despite Daavo having one of his toes amputated,” Ferguson said. Ricks explained that Daavo had broken one of his toenails and his toe became infected as a result. But after surgery and six weeks of recuperating, he bounced back into action at work and has been good as new. 

In addition to being a Draper police officer, Ricks is one of the adjunct instructors specializing in training new handlers and K-9s at Police Officers Standards & Training (POST) Academy. “I teach new handlers how to start their dogs and how to go from A-Z in their training to get them certified,” he said. Utah’s POST Academy keeps all the certifications for both human and K-9 officers. “Some of their (the K-9) jobs are equally important as ours. We work hand in hand,” Ricks said.

“Ben is a huge asset to the Draper Police Department. My experience working around K-9 officers is that the best ones have a calm and disciplined demeanor about them and Ben has that. He and Daavo are both great assets to our department and our city is lucky to have them,” Ferguson said. 

The contract for Daavo’s sale to the city states that, “The City will accrue significant and operational benefits from acquiring K-9 and the acquisition of K-9 will benefit the health, safety and welfare of Draper’s residents.” 

Daavo is a Belgian Malinois who was born in Belgium. He came to the U.S. at one and a half years of age along with another male dog from the same litter when they were acquired by the Herriman Police Department in 2018. Daavo’s brother now works in West Jordan. Ricks described Daavo as being “more mellow” than his brother. Belgian Malinois dogs are similar to German Shepherds, energetic and bred for working. Daavo is now 7 years old. 

Ferguson and Ricks agree that Daavo is a boost to the morale of the police department as a mascot of sorts, but there’s no question he’s a professional and he commands respect as such. “He’s a very friendly dog. It does lift spirts (in the department). These dogs are so well trained, there’s a level of respect that you have to afford them,” Ferguson said. 

Ricks said Daavo does like being petted and praised. “He’s 76 pounds but he thinks he’s a lap dog. He loves attention. I just took him to an elementary school for a DARE program, and I let them all pet him. He was loving it,” Ricks said. One thing Daavo is allowed that other officers aren’t is napping on the job. “I catch him snoozing in the back of the car all the time, but when I need him, he’s awake, alert and ready to go,” Ricks said. Ferguson explained that Daavo is allowed one hour of every shift he works to get out of the car for training or public presentations and other events.  

Only Ricks will be handling Daavo. “That’s the way it is with K-9s. They have a handler. It’s not a tool that anybody can utilize. They form a bond and understanding with their handler,” Ferguson said. That bond continues off duty as well. “He lives at the house with me, he’s always with me,” Ricks said. 

“That’s typical for any K-9 handler. They become part of the family,” Ferguson said. 

On a special note, when Ricks was sworn-in for duty to Draper City, one of his sons, Damien, had the honor of pinning the badge on the senior Ricks. Damien is following in his father’s footsteps and is working for Unified Police. A few weeks prior, Ricks was able to pin the badge for Unified Police on his son at Damien’s oath of office. 

Daavo isn’t Draper’s first K-9 officer. Recently, Sable retired for age reasons after serving the city for eight years. “The city got a good deal. Ben owns Daavo and he had approached me that Daavo was still trained. I had actually put in for another K-9 in my budget, but when Ben came forward, it made it something we were able to take on. The timing was perfect,” Ferguson said. 

The city’s contract for the purchase of Daavo states that he’ll be returned to his handler, Ricks, upon retirement.  The contract also acknowledges the inherent risk in police work.

“Beautiful dog,” Mayor Troy Walker said as he welcomed Daavo and Ricks to Draper City. λ