
Meet
Tango
Read the heart-warming story of Sergeant Nicks' beloved K-9
My name is Ed Nicks and I am a retired Police Sergeant (Tango and I retired March 31, 2003) with 33 years in Law Enforcement, 22 years in the Canine Section. During my career, I handled four GSD, three of which were crossed trained. My last K-9 was named Tango.
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I first met Tango a GSD, DOB 5-27-95 at Frankford Airport Germany. I accompanied the importer, David Reaver (Adlerhorst International - Riverside, CA) to Europe to select dogs to become prospective Police K-9’s and to get a new dog for myself.
I was helping place dogs into air crates to be shipped to the US and David told me to go to a small K-9 trailer and get three dogs from the Czech man there. He told me that the name of one of the dogs was Tango, and he felt that would be a great dog for me. The man took the first dog out and handed me the leash. I asked, “Tango?” He did not say anything and just smiled. I got the second and again asked, “Tango?” He again smiled and handed me the leash, I thought even if this guy does not speak English, he should know the dogs name. I went back for the third one and when this almost all black dog came out, he tried to bite the Czech man. When the dog attached his mouth to my leg, he handed me the leash and said, “TANGO.” I took him back to where David was and he said you might give him this ball, he is a little slow on his Pust (Czech for OUT).
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Back in Midland, Texas, Tango joined the Midland Police Department in September 1997. He quickly became my best friend and the best K-9 I have ever worked. He had great drives and was always ready to work. At home he just kind of lied around, did not do much of anything, did not play much, but put him into the police car and he was a different dog. It was like he was born to be a Police K-9. He quickly picked up narcotic detection and had well over 100 finds in his career.
He was always all business! About a year after he went to work, we were called to a four story vacant office building after a break in to search for suspects that were possibly still in the building. They had broken into the building several times before and had done well over $200,000 worth of damage to the building, breaking class, emptying the fire extinguishers, and spray painting the walls. The power was off in the building and there were two elevators on the ground floor. One had the door open and the other door was closed. As we searched the building, off lead as we always did, I always looked at the elevator doors as I got to the next floor after exiting the stairs. All the doors were closed. On the fourth floor, we completed our search and did not go down a hall way as it was full of broken glass. I retracted my steeps and we were going to the stairs, Tango was about 6 feet in front of me, he turned the corner and the last thing I saw was his tail as he was going down the elevator shaft. The suspects had pried the elevator door open at the bottom about a foot and I missed seeing it in the dark.
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My heart sunk as I new Tango had fallen to his death, going four floors down the elevator shaft. I ran down the four flights of steps and tried to pry the doors open. I was only able to get them open about 6 inches. I just knew I was going to see my dead partner there. I called his name over and over, “Tango, Tango, Tango!” And to my surprise, he came into my view, looked up at me, and then disappeared. I called the fire department to bring a tool that opens elevator doors and about 30 minutes later, I dropped down in the pit (about 8 feet), picked him up and laid him on the floor. I then carried him to the police car and raced to the Vet hospital.
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Tango was alive and in pretty good shape for falling four stories, except his pelvis was broken in three spots. Because it was still attached to his spine, the decision was made not to operate, but to just let it heal. I was told he held the record for surviving the longest K-9 fall. I stayed with him every minute at the vet’s office and never left his side. We spent the night together on the floor and three days later when we were released to come home, we came home together. I would help him outside by putting a small blanket under his stomach and holding his back legs off the ground when he needed to go outside. About three weeks later, he was walking slowly on his own. Being with him during his rehab, we became very close.
About a month after his fall, he was going to work with me in the car (I would help him in and out of the car). We would go to the office and do paper work, hide dope around the office and find it, go to a small pond and swim to help him build strength in his legs, and go for slow walks. Six months after his fall he was released to go back to full duty and served until March 2003 when he and I retired together.
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He had several felony apprehensions during his career. He was a little slower than he had been and walked with a limp, but his drive to work and please me never slowed. He never told me where to go eat, how bad I was driving, never had family problems, never drank or smoked, and never talked my ear off! He was just a GREAT partner and a true friend.
Almost four years after our retirement, Tango passed away on February 21, 2007 at the age of twelve. I will miss him everyday of my life…







