After seven years of patrolling, Turbo, a Belgian malinois, retired from the ChulaVista Police Department K-9 unit on Nov. 17 due to medical reasons with his eyesight.
During Turbo’s career he had dozens of apprehensions, hundreds of surrenders and searches. Additionally, his nose helped the CVPD seize hundreds of pounds of narcotics to keep the community and citizens safe.
After two previous handlers, Turbo’s current handler, K-9 officer Gen Murofushi, began his work with Turbo nearly three years ago. Murofushi said his family decided to give him a permanent home for his retirement due to the happiness that he brought them.
“He was happy being with my family, with my kids. I can trust him around my family. My kids would go play soccer with him because he loved to play so much with my boys,” said Murofushi. “We did not have the heart to say we couldn’t make room for a new dog and he had to go. He was already part of the family. He is just a great dog all around. I have had a lot of good moments with him.”
Murofushi said he began his first day of training with his new K-9 patrol dog Ranger on Nov. 30 and spent the day reminiscing about all the days he spent with Turbo at the K-9 Academy. Murofushi and Ranger are expected to be certified on Jan. 7, 2021.
“I had a lot of fun with him,” he said. “He hates not being able to go to work with me, but he will get used to staying at home protecting my family while I am gone.”
Growing up raising and training hunting dogs, Murofushi said he has been around working dogs all his life and it is impossible to distinguish a separation between a professional and personal relationship.
“In order to work with the dog, to have a trustworthy unit, there has to be that bond,” he said. “That bond starts at a personal level and there is always going to be something personal with the dog. When I am not having a good day, I sit and talk to Turbo on a personal level and he is kind of my personal comfort dog. He serves a lot of purposes for me. It is not just being a police dog to protect me, he is literally my best friend now. In the field, at home, he is always there with me.”
Sgt. Joel Monreal, head of the CVPD K-9 unit, said the K-9 program began in 1978 and has had around 50 dogs in service. Currently the K-9 unit has seven dogs, six assigned to patrol and one assigned to an undercover unit with a federal task force. Six are Belgian malinois and one Labrador.
Monreal said during Turbo’s service, he assisted on numerous apprehensions of criminals, keeping officers and the community safe.
“Turbo was a dual purpose dog being also trained in the detection of narcotics,” said Monreal. “He assisted in recovering large amounts of narcotics in the city of Chula Vista and San Diego County. Turbo is 9 years old, so he was 2 years old when he started with the unit.”
Turbo came from Man-K9 in Mexico. The CVPD contracts with Manuel Villanueva, the owner of Man-K9, who has vhelped in training and at the zcademy for the past seven years.
