By Brian McBride
Editor

The old proverb of every dog has his day especially rings true at the Kissimmee Police Department.

Reno, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois breed who has been patrolling the streets of Kissimmee for the past two and a half years, is featured on the cover the January/February 2013 edition of the national magazine Police K-9.

“I’m very proud of him,” said Reno’s handler, Officer Joe Mata. “He’s a great dog.”

Ace K9 contacted Mata, in October to schedule a photo shoot per a request from the Police K9 magazine.

Ace K9, from Jupiter, Fla., specializes in K-9 safety products, such as patrol car heat alarms. But the company also travels the country to attend and photograph K-9 events, according to its website.

Reno’s photo shoot took place on the steps of the Osceola County Courthouse, which was then submitted along with several other photos agencies’ dogs, to the editor and publisher of Police K-9.  Later, Mata received an email that the selection committee choose Reno’s photo for the cover of the January/February 2013 edition of the magazine.

Mata, who has worked with the K-9 unit for the past 12 years, said he and his furry partners have been included in trade magazines before, but never the cover.

“I was excited,” said Mata, who plans on framing the cover “That’s big to me.”

Mata speculated that Reno was chosen because Police K-9 magazine favors the Malinois breed because of their strong work ethic and ability to work in the heat.

“I consider him to be one of the best working here in Central Florida,” Mata said.

Police K-9 Magazine is a bi-monthly publication that serves K-9 law-enforcement officers and supervisors who work in the public and private sectors — including federal, state, and local agencies, the military and private security firms.

Mata recalled an incident last year when he and Reno were part of a police pursuit that included three suspects who were being chased by both the Orlando Police Department and the Florida Highway Patrol. The pursuit left Orlando and entered Kissimmee. There were so many patrol cars in the chase with there lights flashing it looked like a “Christmas tree, ” Mata said. The suspects bailed out near Michigan Avenue, where Mata and Reno had joined the pursuit. Mata deployed Reno, who caught one of the suspects in about “three seconds,” he said.

Reno is one of three dogs the Kissimmee Police Department utilizes on a daily basis. The unit trains weekly, Mata said, and is nationally certified.

“We just don’t comply with state standards,” Mata said. “I’m proud of the unit.”