WATSEKA, Ill. (WCIA) — A member of the Watseka Police Department is getting ready to celebrate his first year on the force … but he’s not your typical hire.

4-year-old Tucker started working with the department in December 2019. He’s certified in tracking and article search. Tucker can also sniff out seven different narcotics, including heroin, meth and cocaine. That’s part of the reason the department wanted to get a dog.

“We started having a problem when the flooding occurred here a few years ago, we’ve had a lot of abandoned houses. And the city is doing what they can — and doing a good job of trying to get rid of those abandoned houses now — But the drug users have been using those houses as like little places to set up and use their drugs and stuff like that,” says K9 Officer, Mark Harris. He says Tucker has been a good deterrent.

Harris and Tucker are together 24/7. They would normally do a lot of community outreach and school visits. They hope to pick that back up when the pandemic is over.