BRYANT — Paul Tarvin has always considered himself a dog person. Having three other dogs who live with him and his family, taking on the responsibility of adding another dog to the mix was an easy choice.
“I’m a dog person; I love dogs,” said Tarvin, a sergeant with the Bryant Police Department. “The opportunity to work with a K-9 was something new and challenging.”
Tarvin and the Police Department recently acquired a new K-9, Mya, a Belgian Malinois. Tarvin has been a school resource officer for the Bryant School District for the past eight years. Mya is primarily trained as a narcotics dog but has also been trained in tracking and article recovery.
“For example, if someone threw something out of the car or something outside, she can look to find those things,” Tarvin said. “But her primary job is to deter drugs from coming onto the campus.
“The ultimate goal is, if [students] know she’s there, they won’t bring [drugs] on campus.”
Tarvin said there haven’t been any major incidents with drugs on campus, but it is still the goal to have a safe learning environment for the kids.
“About a year ago, we started talking about putting a dog at the school,” Tarvin said. “We started out talking to the superintendent, who was very supportive of the idea.”
Tarvin said the department did present the idea to the school board, along with the benefits of having a narcotics dog on campus.
He said the school board was very supportive of the idea.
“We were already looking at different people who are involved in the SRO program, and we have a total of seven SROs right now. I was interested in working on it, and that is the kind of direction we went,” Tarvin said.
“Safety is always a top priority for the district,” Bryant School District Superintendent Karen Walters said in a statement. “Adding a K-9 officer is part of our effort to provide a safe school environment.
“While we always hope students will make wise choices, we know this isn’t always the case. Mya’s addition to the school-resource-officer team will help deter drugs on campus.”
Tarvin is originally from Benton, having graduated from Benton High School in 1992. He joined the military and served as a military police officer for about five years. His wife, Jennifer, also works in law enforcement as a dispatcher. The couple have been married for 22 years and have a daughter, Jordan, and a son, Cody.
“We are a dog family; we have three other dogs,” Tarvin said. “All of our inside dogs are female, so it has been a pretty good transition having Mya inside.”
Tarvin has had Mya for a little over a month, having gotten the dog at the end of June. Tarvin said the department bought Mya from Blue Streak K9 in Jonesboro.
“Most other dogs are patrol dogs, having been trained in narcotics and patrol,” Tarvin said, “but Mya isn’t trained in bite work. We didn’t want anything like that at the school.
“We were looking for a dog that had the right demeanor.”
As a department, Tarvin said, officers train Mya on a weekly basis, and he also does individual work with her about a couple of times a week. He said they do have training aides, but they also try to do the training at work or in the city in different areas while on duty.
“It is a little more work, and it has been a new experience, but so far I have enjoyed it,” Tarvin said. “Obviously, being at the school, I have to be a little more cautious when I have Mya with me and where we go.
“She is a very friendly and outgoing dog and doesn’t show any aggression toward anybody, but I have to always be mindful of what she is doing because she is still a dog.”
He said Mya’s traits are very desirable for the type of job she is expected to perform.
“It has been a great experience so far,” Tarvin said. “I have worked in law enforcement for almost 20 years altogether, but this is my first time working a K-9.
“It has been exciting to do some things and new training. It has been kind of refreshing.”
Staff writer Sam Pierce can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or spierce@arkansasonline.com.