There’s a new law enforcement team in town and they’re already getting down to the business of finding drugs, people on drugs or people in peril.

K-9 Cezar and Deputy Byron Cervantez just joined the Llano County Sheriff’s Office in January but the pair have been partners for a few years at another law enforcement agency.

“Our most successful track was when he helped find an old lady who had Alzheimer’s,” Cervantez said. “We tracked her for a little over four hours until other dogs came in to take over. He was on the right track.”

A Texas Panhandle native, Cervantez has been in law enforcement for more than 3 years. He was in the profession for just 8 months before meeting Cezar and becoming a K-9 deputy.

“It’s really unusual to become a K-9 deputy so early in a career,” Cervantez said. “The opportunity came up and I applied and I got lucky. I knew it would be a perfect opportunity, and allow me to expand my law enforcement career.”

In many departments, a police officer has to serve a number of years on patrol before advancing into any specialized field, including K-9 handling.

Cervantez said he’s been a “dog person” since his early years, easily connecting with his family’s Labradors.

Cezar is a Czech Shephard, very similar to a German Shepherd but obviously born in the Czech Republic.

The recent winter storm was no problem for the Czech-born dog, or the Panhandle-born deputy.

“He loves playing in the snow, it’s nothing new for him,” Cervantez said.

Every day is different

No day is the same for Cervantez and Cezar.

“Having him with me every day is awesome; he keeps things interesting, that’s for sure,” he said.

Having Cezar seems almost like having an energetic toddler and Cervantez talks like any proud papa.

“I’m always sure to tire him out before we get home,” Cervantez said.

Cervantez and Cezar began their partnership when Cezar was around a year old.

“I’m a dog person so I’d much rather be with him than another person,” he said. “I like people, but the bond that he and I share is indescribable. I can’t really put it into words. I can look at him a certain way and he knows what I want him to do.”

The deputy said that Cezar will even sit at the dinner table with the family. Literally.

“He is a social butterfly,” Cervantez said. “Little kids make him a little nervous; he just goes on alert.”

He said that all K-9 deputies are careful when having their dogs interact with members of the public, but it’s also one of the best parts of the gig.

“Our patrol vehicles have warning stickers, so we don’t want to scare people but people should be cautious.”

The department suggests that folks wait for the “okay” from the K-9 deputy before approaching Cezar or the department’s other K-9, Ruger.

Law enforcement role

Of course, Cezar is a police dog so he can’t be a social butterfly all the time.

“He’s not an aggressive dog by nature but he knows when it’s time to go to work,” Cervantez said. “Just the other day I brought him out to serve a warrant in case the suspect ran from us, and some of the other deputies who had never seen him working couldn’t believe it was the same dog.”

Cezar already has earned his law enforcement stripes, seizing hundreds of pounds of pot in one bust and several kilos of heroin and cocaine in other operations at their past law enforcement agency.

Cezar, who was bred to be a police dog, is a dual-purpose K-9 capable of sniffing out creatively hidden narcotics and also performing tracking services.

“He can do things that no human can, such as sniffing out THC wax and narcotics in vacuum-sealed bags,” Cervantez said. “The narcotics are so concealed that we need the dogs to pinpoint its location.”

Here in Llano County, Cezar is important because there are few K-9s in the region.

“He’s there to apprehend people who need to be put in jail, so that’s important to the community,” Cervantez said. “I hope that it has an effect on the crime rate, and on the number of people who decide to run from the police. Cezar can run faster than anyone I know.”

K-9s also have a more easygoing role within the “community policing” framework.

“He’s a dog and people love dogs, so I hope he will help build some bonds within the community,” Cervantez said.