Getro, a 14-month-old German shepherd, started working a week ago with handler Officer Traci Winters, and the 70-pound officer was officially “sworn in” Wednesday evening during the Tyrone Police Department’s annual Night Out Against Crime at the community swimming pool.

Tyrone Police Chief John Romeo said more than 350 people turned out Wednesday for the annual event, and although Getro did well with the crowd, it is always a challenge when it comes to kids and a working dog such as Getro. Still, while not the kind of dog you can run up to and pet, Romeo said it was important that the department get a dog that wasn’t too aggressive, either.

“We wanted a K-9 that is more social,” Romeo said, adding that Getro is a dual trained drug detection and tracking dog that can assist in the apprehension of suspects. He’s also a passive alert dog, meaning when Getro sniffs out drugs, he’ll either sit or if it’s somewhere lower to the ground, the dog will lay down.

Getro is trained to find heroin, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine, Winters pointed out. Read More