Nashville Police Officer and K9 Partner to Serve as Celebrate American Honorees

NASHVILLE – Police Officer Jaime Scruggs has a dream partner. He’s a good companion, fun to be around and the type of loyal, hard-working cop you’d trust with your life.

When the police cruiser’s siren goes off, PO Scruggs’ partner also wags his tail and swats the door handles, overwhelmingly excited to get out and do his job.

Scruggs’ partner is Turbo, a three-year-old German Shepherd, who’s part of the Metro Nashville Police K9 unit.  The officer and his indefatigable dog have worked together for two years, taking down a host of violent criminals in precarious heart-pounding situations that would cause most mere mortals to look for clean underwear.

Last Thanksgiving, a stolen car was tracked to a dead end street in South Nashville. The bad guys rammed the responding officer’s patrol car. Scruggs and Turbo arrived on the scene and saw two men running from the wrecked cars.

Scruggs stomped the accelerator, following the perpetrators onto a field, but his patrol car began bottoming out as the terrain got rough.

It was time to let Turbo out to do his work. Scruggs followed on foot.

“Turbo is a lot faster, and he got ahead into the woods. I’m running to catch up and hear a gun shot. I thought they shot Turbo,” Scruggs said.

Soon, he found Turbo’s jaws locked around one freaked-out suspect’s legs.

Man’s best friend doesn’t act that way if you’ve just committed a violent crime. Criminals usually discover that moment of clarity in seeing the snarling German Shepherd trained for these situations.

Turbo let his partner cuff the perpetrator. He bolted away, followed the scent, and apprehended the second suspect nearly a mile away.

Scruggs was born and raised in Nashville. He attended the University of Alabama for a criminal justice degree and returned to his hometown to join the police academy. He became a Nashville police officer in 2000.

A decade ago, he transferred to narcotics and was assigned a canine. He worked with a dog named Raven for seven years.

Next he moved to the regular canine unit, specializing in dogs that apprehend criminals.

“Initially, trust is most important with a new canine,” Scruggs said. “The first weeks, you’re bonding and building a relationship. Every day you repeat what you did the day before and take one additional small step forward.”

Human tracking begins with a ten-foot straight line. After 14 weeks of training, a determined dog can stay locked on a scent winding through backyards and across an interstate. Dogs like Turbo will continue to train 8 hours each month.

When Turbo gets down to business, he can search an entire large building in five to ten minutes.

Turbo technically belongs to the city of Nashville but lives with Scruggs, 40, and his wife and two elementary school age children. Turbo is part of the family, though not like an ordinary pet.

He has socialized with Scruggs’ immediate family, who he recognizes as part of the pack. Outside of that, proceed at your own risk.

“He’s a service animal. You couldn’t come to my house and pet this dog,” Scruggs said. “We don’t want him that way – if an armed robber shoots someone, when Turbo tracks him down, he doesn’t need to think the criminal might play with him.”

When Turbo retires from the apprehension team at age eight, he’ll enjoy the more traditional role of coddled pet, which will suit an animal who appears to always be smiling at Scruggs. For now, Turbo stays outside in his custom kennel instead of coming into the house to watch TV and get pampered.

Like the bulls in PBR who eagerly rush to the stock contractor’s trailer when they see it’s time to go compete in an event, Turbo has a job and he’s happy to be at work.

“When I put Turbo on the leash, his tail is wagging and he drags me to the police car to get in,” Scruggs said. “If I let him out on a weekend in my shorts and T shirt, his demeanor is different. When I’m wearing the uniform, he’s at attention and so eager on the leash, he nearly pulls my shoulder out.”

Also like PBR bucking bulls, these dogs are bred for the job.

All of Nashville PD’s canines come from Europe, the same bloodline, generation after generation.

“You may have a beautiful American German Shepherd, but he wouldn’t work as a police dog,” Scruggs said. “We might test 15 dogs and pick only one. They have to have the highest drive, intelligence and fearlessness.”

Some dogs may be spooked by the sound of abrupt gunfire. Others may not like running over slick floors. The canines chosen for unpredictable, high-pressure police work need to charge ahead in all conditions.

Yet police dogs can’t be indiscriminately aggressive to everyone. They need to treat their handler as an unconditional friend.

Shepherds are ideal for catching fleeing criminals because they are task oriented and always want something to do, Scruggs said.

For their service and bravery, Scruggs and Turbo will be honored at the PBR Built Ford Tough Music City Knockout, presented by Cooper Tires, Saturday night in Nashville as part of the PBR Celebrate America tour.

The PBR Major, with massive 2017 title implications on the line, will be Scruggs’ first PBR event. As a partner to a beloved animal in life and death situations, he’s eager to see how the riders pair off with the powerful bulls. Which is another partnership grounded in training, respect and mutually dependent success.

He’s heard music is a big part of a PBR show, and is wondering if he’ll hear any rootsy country tunes booming through Bridgestone Arena.

The Nashville police officer is the grandson of the bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs, and he fondly remembers his grandfather picking on the banjo, an instrument he single-handedly reinvented. His dad traveled the world in the Earl Scruggs Review and was guitarist for Waylon Jennings.

Saturday night, the world’s most thrilling bull riding will go down in Nashville, but fans won’t be surprised in hearing a few strains of “Blue Moon of Kentucky.”