West Deptford K-9 Judge Retires with a Titanium Grin

National Night Out in West Deptford (Tuesday at the RiverWinds community center) will debut a new K-9 this year.

Whoever that lucky dog is, he will already be a contest winner, named by the children of the township in a police department-sponsored promotion.

And he will take the job with some big shoes to fill. The officer he's replacing, West Deptford K-9 "Judge," Badge #K-4, was sent off into retirement barking at the uproarious applause of police from throughout the state on Thursday.

During his seven-year career, Judge was deployed 288 times, said Mayor Ray Chintall, who read a lengthy civic commendation for the German Shepherd.

Judge netted 94 narcotics arrests, 13 burglary and other arrests, and was a perfect eight-for-eight on crowd control assignments. He physically apprehended four violent criminal offenders. He helped seize three cars, three handguns (one stolen) and $47,900.

Judge is quite literally a mascot for the Boardwalk Kennel Club, retired law enforcement officer and K-9 handler Joseph Nicholas told the crowd at the township committee meeting.

Nicholas, known as "Joe Nick," praised Franks for his persistence in reviving the K-9 program in West Deptford and summed up its community impact as follows.

"He started a unit. He saved taxpayers thousands of dollars. He protected police officers hundreds of times. And he locked scum—nice people—up," Nicholas finished, to laughter.

"Hard to get in the car without your dog," Nicholas said.

The K-9 program has paid for itself several times over, said West Deptford Police Chief Craig Mangano.

Franks personally sold Mangano on the program and then fund-raised nonstop to make it happen, the chief said.

"They’ve paid for cars, they’ve paid for all the equipment for the dogs, through fundraisers [and seized funds]," Mangano said.

But the whole, carefully planned project came to an early crossroads during training, when a keyed-up Judge bit Franks in the face.

Mangano remembered Franks walking into his office afterwards, with butterfly stitches across the bridge of his nose.

"What do you want to do?" the chief asked.

"I want to keep trying," Franks told him.

A K-9 officer doesn’t leave his work when he goes home, Mangano said, recalling "weekends and night times" when the dental injuries that forced Judge into early retirement took dog and handler to the University of Pennsylvania veterinary hospital.

"They’re constantly caring for the K-9s and most people don’t know that," Mangano told the crowd. "Mike’s a very hard worker; that’s why he’s getting the next K-9.

"We knew, no doubt in our minds, that [Judge] was our dog," said West Deptford Lt. Sean McKenna, the K-9 Program Supervisor, who saw Judge's training progress.

"It’s a shame to close a chapter on such a great law enforcement career for Judge," he said, presenting Franks and Judge with a plaque from the department.

Then Chintall, himself a retired New Jersey State Trooper, seized the opportunity to acknowledge Mangano before the community of visiting officers at what would be the chief's farewell township committee meeting.

The room responded with a standing ovation; Mangano received it, beaming.