̫ӳ Police Department celebrates K-9 retirement
Contact: Mary Pollitz
STARKVILLE, Miss.—The ̫ӳ Police Department today [Jan. 29] celebrated the retirement of a well-loved police dog after nine years of service to the university.
Bessi, an 11-year-old Belgian Malinois, retired from ̫ӳPD after nearly a decade of service as a dual-purpose explosive and patrol detector K-9.
̫ӳ Assistant Chief of Police Brian Locke said Bessi swept an estimated 400 campus events and responded to more than 40 bomb threats throughout her career, as well as assisting the Starkville Police Department and Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Office on numerous occasions. Throughout her entire ̫ӳ career, Bessi has worked alongside her handler Sgt. Nick Coe.
“What we do with the K-9 unit is a huge part of what we do for the university,” Locke said. “Most police dogs serve about five or six years before they retire. So, nine years is a while and Bessi has done a tremendous job.”
As part of her retirement, Bessi received a certificate from ̫ӳ human resources, an official change of ownership from ̫ӳPD to Coe and a small piece of cake to celebrate her years of service. Coe, who has been responsible for Bessi on and off the clock for almost a decade, said Bessi always had an intense drive to work and stay busy. He added that though he looks forward to her retirement, he’s not excited about patrolling the university without her by his side.
“It's already been weird. She's just like a friend that’s always here for me to talk to,” Coe said. “She’s always had a really, really high drive to work. She would work herself into serious injury if you let her.”
̫ӳ’s Regina Hyatt, vice president for student affairs, the division that houses ̫ӳPD, attended the ceremony alongside ̫ӳPD officers, staff and students.
“She’s my favorite,” Hyatt said.” She’s obviously a police dog, but her temperament is just so pleasant. Part of the reason we have these dogs, aside from their work, is they’re great ambassadors to students and the community. Everyone loves Bessi and we’re definitely going to miss her but we’re very excited for the life of luxury and leisure that she’ll be having in retirement.”
Since its inception in 2014, ̫ӳPD’s K-9 Unit has employed three teams of dual-purpose explosive and patrol detector K-9s and one narcotics K-9 team. K-9 officers like Bessi give ̫ӳPD confidence that each university event is safe throughout the year, Locke said.
“If you look at how many people we bring here for all our events, it’s important knowing that all our events are safe and secure,” Locke said. “That’s a relief to everyone who visits, our students, parents and quite frankly, it’s a great relief to me to know we have these assets here.”
For more information on ̫ӳ’s Police Department, visit .
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