Several people have asked for an update on K9 Copper and where we are with getting him back. If you have followed his story you can drop to the last couple of paragraphs and skip the background. ��In June of 2022 a member of the Cocoa City Council told me that Chief Collier was going to retire Copper and replace him with a regular K9, drug dog; over the next few weeks, during conversations with other members of the City Council and Officers in the Cocoa Police Department, I heard the same thing, Chief Collier was going to retire Copper and give him to Officer Hattaway.  
Current policy only allows the PD to have 4 dogs which meant Copper would have to be retired for there to be a 4th patrol K9. The Chief saw no value in a therapy dog but thought a 4th dog that could find drugs and bite was a necessity. (keep in mind, according to the Chief, crime in the City of Cocoa is down by 11%)
In an effort to confirm my conversations with the City Council Members and Officers from within the Department, I called Copper’s handler, Officer Hattaway, who confirmed that there had been discussion on retiring Copper, purchasing another K9, and allowing Copper to live, as a pet, with Officer Hattaway and his family.
In the fall of 2022 Officer Hattaway filed a hostile work environment complaint against his Supervisor. When the required separation of Hattaway from supervision by the person he filed the complaint on was not implemented Hattaway requested that he be placed back on patrol. Officer Hattaway’s request was denied and feeling that he could no longer work effectively under the current circumstances, Officer Hattaway provided the PD with the necessary paperwork to leave their employ.
Once Officer Hattaway resigned, Copper became a “valuable” member of the Cocoa Police Department and the desire for the Chief to retire Copper and replace him with a new K9, was off the table. Officer Hattaway was directed to immediately turn Copper over to Officer Johnson.
There was no vetting process on the part of the PD before Officer Johnson was assigned to take Copper. There was no residence check for safety, no check to make sure that Copper and Officer Johnson’s dog got along or that her dog was up to date on shots, no check to make sure that Officer Johnson’s spouse would agree to the assignment, nothing, well nothing that would qualify Officer Johnson to handle a Therapy Dog other than the fact that her yard was fenced.
When I took to social media complaining about Copper being used for retaliation and emailed Commander Marchica with my thoughts, Chief Collier sent me an email stating that he never said he wanted Copper retired and that anyone who told me otherwise is a liar. So, Chief Collier believes that members of the City Council and his own Police Department are liars. What are the chances that half a dozen people, spoken to at different times, all came up with the same lie? ��In addition to the Chief telling me that “anyone who told me otherwise was a liar,” when Maureen mentioned to the Chief, during a phone conversation, because the Chief puts very little in writing, that she had reputable members of the City of Cocoa community telling her that the Chief was going to retire Copper, the Chief replied by telling her that Councilman Dyal was a liar, and she should not listen to what Councilman Dyal says. Maureen never had a conversation with Councilman Dyal about Copper or any other business with the city and never mentioned his name in an email or conversation.
 
During the conversation with the Chief, he told Maureen he would look into living up to the verbal agreement we had with the City regarding health testing Copper and showing him at AKC Sanctioned shows. The Chief stated that there were policies in place that were never followed and now that he is trying to follow those policies he has become the bad guy. Maureen asked for copies of the K9 policy as well as the Therapy Dog policy but received neither.
Maureen also mentioned to the Chief that she would be in town between December 10th and 17th and would like to see Copper and meet Officer Johnson. The Chief assured Maureen that he was a man of his word, and he would make it happen. Maureen sent a follow up email requesting to see Copper on Monday, December 12th, her request was replied to by Officer Johnson stating that Copper would be in training that week and would not be available.
Maureen then emailed the Chief, Sergeant Stephenson, Commander Marchica and Officer Johnson noting that the Chief said he “would make it happen.” She requested that perhaps someone could bring Copper to Orlando, where he has been on numerous occasions, so she could see him. The next morning Commander Marchica called Maureen, remember, nothing is done in writing, he said that her asking for someone to bring Copper to Orlando was demanding and aggressive, that she needed to understand that there are policies in place that need to be followed and K9’s cannot leave Brevard County without written permission from the Chief.
Commander Marchica, a true man of his word, made arrangements to meet Maureen and I on Friday Dec 17th to see Copper graduated from Paws and Stripes Therapy dog training with Officer Johnson. While the conversation was guarded and not very productive, we did get to see Copper, sore on his nose and all. We discussed the fact that Copper had not been crated nor was he kennel trained, and during the Paws and Stripes course he rubbed his nose raw trying to get out of a crate. Commander Marchica noted that whenever Copper was kenneled at the PD he would carry on until someone let him out of the kennel so he could be with people. In addition, during the graduation ceremony the dogs were placed in crates so the Sheriff could bring his dog in to meet everyone and Copper tore apart his crate trying to get out. Luckily he was caught by someone standing there and Officer Johnson was sent for. Copper was placed in Officer Johnson’s patrol vehicle.
So, here we have a dog that has not been crated or kennel trained, coming off of a stressful week of training with a handler he barely knows, after being taken away from Officer Hattaway with whom he has lived most of the past six years, and the decision is made to kennel Copper for the holidays. While it may be a common practice for patrol K9’s to be boarded while their handler is on vacation, Copper is not a patrol K9, he is a therapy dog, meant to provide empathy and support to people during stressful situations. Who is providing comfort to Copper in return for what he has done for the City of Cocoa? It is very likely that Copper’s treatment over the last few weeks has done permanent damage. Think about the amount of trauma he has been through at the hands of those that say they care. Copper was bred to give 110% to those that need his help and in return he gets used as a pawn in retaliation for an Officer leaving the PD because he didn’t want to serve under a  supervisor that he has no confidence in.

Maureen has offered to replace Copper with a breed of Officer Johnson’s choice, she’s offered to purchase a new patrol K9 if that is what the Chief wants. She made that offer in writing to the Chief, the City Manager and the Council. Neither the City Manager nor any members of the City Council gave the courtesy of a reply.
The Chief did say, in a phone conversation with Maureen, that he is not giving Copper up as long as he is in charge. He will get the policy changed so he can keep Copper and have four patrol K9’s instead of four dogs total. Interesting that the City Manager and the City Council seem to work for the Chief of Police and not the other way around.��I’m not sure we will ever know how much damage Copper has endured, but this is what I do know; the Cocoa Police Department has lost the financial support of the Brevard Kennel Club whose mission it is to support the welfare of animals in general by education, financial assistance to worthy animal related causes and the protection and encouragement of dogs and dog ownership.
The Kennel Club has paid for two K9’s, supported the Space Coast K9 Foundation to the tune of $5,000 per year since its inception, and paid for K9 Officer’s and their dogs to attend extensive search and rescue training in Virginia every September. They have spent a day every summer with the children in the police departments summer camp teaching them about dog safety, training and care. Those funds and resources will be redirected to other worthy programs for dogs in Brevard County. 
In closing, I’d like to ask each of you to call and/or email the Cocoa City Manager and the members of the City Council, and request that Copper be returned to his co-breeder, Maureen Finch. The offer still stands that Maureen will replace Copper with another Therapy Dog or Patrol K9, permitting the department to train dogs according to current K9 policies and not sacrificing Copper’s health and well-being because the new Chief wants things his way. The staff has already suffered enough, at least they have the ability to move on, poor Copper can’t make that choice, we are his only saving grace.

Mayor Blake
mblake@cocoafl.org
321-474-1758

Councilman Goins
jgoins@cocoafl.org
321-474-4923

Councilman Dyal
hdyal@cocoafl.org
321-474-4924

Councilman Hearn
lhearn@cocoafl.org
321-474-1189

Councilwoman Koss
lkoss@cocoafl.org
321-474-8445

City Manager:
Stockton Whitten
swhitten@cocoafl.org

There is also the city attorney:
Anthony Garganese 
agarganese@orlandolaw.net