MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — WKRN-TV News 2, the ABC affiliate in Nashville, showed its support for Middle Tennessee State University’s Police Department by recently featuring MTSU’s newest K-9 officer, Ace.

The “News 2 Gives Back” segment, hosted by meteorologist Marcus Bagwell, aired on the 4 p.m. newscast and on News 2’s Facebook. You can watch the segment below on the station’s YouTube channel.

MTSU Police welcomed Ace this past June, adding a fully trained explosives detection dog certified by the National Narcotic Detector Dog Association, said MTSU Police Chief Edwin “Ed” Kaup.

Kaup thanked News 2 for giving back to MTSU Police since their visit to the Blue Raider campus Wednesday, Sept. 4, also included treating officers to lunch.

“It’s terrific. Our officers deserve it,” Kaup said. “It’s a great set of officers protecting our community, and it’s great to be recognized.”

All about Ace

Ace, a 2-year-old, 80-pound German shorthaired pointer, was born in the country of Georgia and trained at the Transportation Security Administration’s Military Working Dog Facility at Lackland Air Force Base in Bexar County, Texas.

Officer Joseph “Jad” Dishner, handler of Ace, then trained alongside his new companion with the Murfreesboro Police Department and their trainer Garry Templeton and with the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office. 

“Ace is awesome. He’s been a great addition to the department,” Dishner said. “He’s an explosives detection dog. (We’ve) had him for approximately, like three-ish months now, but it’s been great to come to work with your best friend.”

Ace is trained on detecting 16 different explosive odors, identifying firearms and shell casings, tracking people and searching for discarded evidence, Dishner said.

“They’re terrific officers. The dogs are great,” Kaup said. “Anything we can do to help protect our student body, our faculty and our staff and to assure parents that we’re doing everything we can to keep their children safe.”

One role of the K-9 units is working large, on-campus events. Ace has already worked this past August graduation and the recent Blue Raider football home game, Kaup said.

But working police dogs can only be in service for so long before needing a break, so MTSU Police utilizes K-9 units from Murfreesboro and Rutherford County when necessary, Kaup said.

“We ask for help, but it’s great to have good handlers, terrific K-9 partners, to be able to go through the university and do what we need to do right away,” Kaup said.

While students are allowed to approach and pet Ace, they must ask the handler for permission first, said Kaup.

“It’s been a big thing for him to kind of socialize him,” Dishner said. “We definitely try to have him out as much as possible. We definitely like the people interaction.”

Choosing K-9 handlers comes with several requirements, such as ensuring the officer is patient, active, squared away, knowledgeable about what the job entails and having a suitable home for a K-9, Kaup said. 

Sgt. Zachery Brooker, handler of Bobby, MTSU Police’s other K-9 unit, worked alongside Dishner to help train and acclimate Ace to the MTSU Police Department. Bobby is trained in narcotics detection and tracking and has been serving the campus community for nearly five years.

“When we got our first K-9, the goal was always to not be the first and the last handler. It’s great to have another K-9 addition to the department, and it was really fun training him [Ace],” Brooker said.

Brooker said having two K-9 units not only helps campus, but also the Middle Tennessee community.

“Ace is just fun to be around,” Brooker said. “He’s a great dog, he doesn’t know strangers, he’s easy to pet and hang out with and he’s also a really, really fast learner.”

MTSU Police’s community impact

MTSU Police is a full service police department with 45 sworn officers and seven dispatchers that serve the campus community by answering all their own calls and even helping students with more minor problems, such as locking their keys in their car or needing a jump-start, Kaup said.

Kaup expressed the importance of MTSU Police being service oriented. His advice to his officers is “to be active, be visible and be nice,” he said. 

“Our job is to keep our community safe, and we have a great community,” Kaup said.

“We have a good family here. We have an incredible police department with great officers who are very friendly but also do their jobs,” Kaup continued. “The university community here is very close knit. We’re a city within the city. Most, 85% I believe, of the students who go here end up remaining in Murfreesboro, the greater Nashville area. It’s home.”

If interested in working for MTSU Police, check the MTSU Jobs website for openings and email the MTSU Police Recruitment Team at PoliceRecruitment@mtsu.edu for notification of any current or future opportunities. For application requirements, click here. 

Stay informed on campus safety at https://mtsu.edu/police/ and by following MTSU Police on X, Instagram and Facebook. 

— Maddy Williams (Maddy.Williams@mtsu.edu)