27-01-2025
Lake Hallie K9 unit retires after nearly 10 years on duty
LAKE HALLIE — Kita, the first K-9 unit in Chippewa County, changed law enforcement in the region, says retired Sheriff Jim Kowalczyk.
Kita, who officially started her duties with the Lake Hallie Police Department in March 2015, had her final shift last week. Sgt. Dan Sokup became her handler in December 2014, when Kita was two years old. During her nearly 10 years on duty, Kita has had 375 narcotic arrests, 15 successful tracks of people, and seized $37,000 cash and one vehicle from drug dealers. Chief Edward Orgon noted that Kita helped in many key searches, such as during the Lily Peters death investigation.
Kowalczyk noted that no law enforcement agency in the county had a dog yet when Kita began her duties.
'In the beginning, I don't know if that dog ever got any rest, because Dan Sokup was so willing to bring her out,' Kowalczyk said with a laugh on Friday. 'It kind of set a precedent, with the call outs (to other agencies.) Because the dog was so successful, it drummed up interest. And it snowballed from there.'
Within the next couple of years, the Chippewa County Sheriff's Office got a K-9 unit. So did the police departments in Chippewa Falls, Stanley and Bloomer.
Kowalczyk noted that nearly 10 years of active duty is a long time for a dog. He praised Sokup, saying working with the animal daily kept her active and on duty.
'People don't realize the dedication, the time and effort, it's just like having a kid,' he said.
Kita, a German Shepherd, received her certificate from the United States Police Canine Association days before starting her duties.
Sokup told the Leader-Telegram in 2015 that he did a two-week, 80-hour training session with Kita.
'I had to train right along with her,' Sokup said in a March 2015 interview on Kita's first day of work. 'We've been letting her ride along and get acclimated to the squad car. We put drugs in a locker, or in a squad, or in a file cabinet — anywhere she can find it. She gets it every time. She's getting faster and faster at finding them.'
Then chief-Cal Smokowicz made it his goal in 2011 to get a dog, and he worked to get the funding to pay for one.
Chippewa County Sheriff Travis Hakes was a member of the Lake Hallie Police Department when Kita started her duties in 2015 and he immediately saw the value in having the K-9.
'Kita very quickly became a welcomed addition to the police department and, more importantly, area public safety as a whole,' Hakes said Saturday. 'Other K9 programs in the county started shortly after and have been a welcomed addition to public safety. It's a good thing she can't talk, or I'd try to get Dan's secret fishing spots out of her.'
During a November 2021 training session with all the other K-9 units in the area, Sokup said it is great to see the growth of dogs in the region.
'I've got a lot more free time,' Sokup told the Leader-Telegram during that 2021 interview. 'I did a lot of off-duty call-outs. I was going out at 3 a.m. to help find somebody because there wasn't a dog available.'
Sokup said he's grateful the law enforcement agencies collaborate on training.
'We get to work with all the other handlers, see what works, and doesn't work,' Sokup said. 'And we learn new methods.'
Sokup said that having a dog has defused a lot of situations.
'A lot of people aren't afraid of equipment, like Tasers,' Sokup said. 'But the presence of a K-9 triggers something in their brain, with them saying, 'I don't want to get bit.''
