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MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — It's still early in the school year, but students at Central High School already know Billy's name and greet him at the security desk.
The 4-year-old German Shepherd looks up but keeps his chin on his paws. He focuses on chewing a tennis ball.
Fewer people know Dave Williams' name, but the officer doesn't mind. He's used to the attention being on his partner, even though Billy's attention is usually on Dave.
Billy follows Dave as he walks around the hallways after school. Billy has separation anxiety if he can't see Dave.
One of the cheerleaders practicing in the student center grabs the tennis ball. She bounces it once and then holds it so Billy can see. He stands in rigid attention.
"He's waiting for you to throw it," Dave said.
"I know," she said. "I do this all the time."
Billy has become a friend to many students at Central while walking around with Dave.
The pair spends five days a week at the school, after working a midnight shift for the Delaware County Sheriff's Department. Twelve hours before Billy began playing fetch with a cheerleader he was chasing a man through the woods during a traffic stop.
It just takes one command from Dave for Billy to switch from a gentle dog to a trained weapon.
Dave said he would never use Billy to apprehend a student. Police don't use dogs on juveniles. But Billy patrols the halls, sniffs lockers and is trained as a bomb dog.
A few years ago the district had numerous bomb threats, Dave said. Billy investigated each one. Once he found a rocket launcher at Southside.
There are some police dogs that don't switch personalities like Billy, Dave said. Some want to bite everyone, even their handler.
Dave needs a gentle dog because he has three small children. His 5-year-old daughter crawls all over Billy.
Dave and Billy have been working and living together for two years. Sometimes, during the midnight shift, Billy will come in to gas stations with Dave.
It's a close bond, Dave said, it's taking the love people have for a personal pet and multiplying it by 10.
"If you want to see a grown, tough policeman crying, come to a K-9 funeral," Dave said.
A few years ago, Dave had to go to the funeral for his first partner, Torro. Torro had spent a few years with the U.S. Army in Iraq before teaming up with Dave. They worked together for around three years before Torro died of cancer.
After a few months, Dave was approved to get a new police dog, which costs about $16,000. He had picked one out, but the dog refused to get in the car. Billy jumped right in.
At Central Dave takes a few steps to point to where Torro's plaque hangs in the school's indoor greenhouse. Billy stands up, ready to follow.
Central is the only school in Muncie Community Schools that has a police dog. Dave said he doesn't know of any other school in the county that uses a dog.
MCS employs 26 officers who work part time, and has an additional 20 available substitutes. There are typically three or four officers in each middle and high school at any given time.
Guards will help break up fights occasionally, but Dave said the administration primarily deals with discipline. Tuesday evening Dave and Billy monitor who enters the school and check in on the students gathered in the halls for different activities.
Billy might be easier to approach, but both Billy and Dave are there to get to know the students. And both have a friendly side to share.
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Source: The (Muncie) Star Press, http://tspne.ws/1FtiLyh
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Information from: The Star Press, http://www.thestarpress.com
This is an AP-Indiana Exchange story offered by The (Muncie) Star Press.
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