Toms River Police Mourn Loss of K-9 Officer

A beloved officer of the Toms River Police Department died yesterday morning.

K-9 Simba, a German shepherd police dog who joined the Toms River police in 2002, was put down after his advanced degenerative arthritis in several discs in his back left him with no movement in his back legs.

His partner, Toms River Police Sgt. Keith Diehl, said Simba was one of four canine officers in the department and was 10 ½ years old. He described Simba as a best friend, a loved and beloved companion to him as an officer and to his family.

“He was more than a member of the police force, he lived with me and was a loyal friend to my family,” Diehl said. “He was a member of my family, and the police family.”

The K-9 on Tuesday started to exhibit signs that advanced arthritis in his back made movement impossible, Diehl said.

“It was rough,” Diehl said. “He lost all his feeling to his legs.”

Simba’s badge number is 9010. As a trained police dog, Simba aided in both patrol work and narcotics work.

“About 70 percent of the crime fighting is narcotics,” Diehl said. “Police dogs are integral, their sense of smell is something like several hundred times heightened compared to a human.”

He said that at the regular training he and Simba underwent, it was once described that while you’d walk into a house and know grandma was making chicken soup, a German shepherd could separate all the distinct ingredients in the soup by smell.

“It’s amazing what these dogs can do,” Diehl said.

In addition to a 10-hour shift at work together, Simba and Diehl forged a bond that comes with the canine also living with the working officer.

“Literally we spend as much time as exists with them,” he said. “We bring them to work with us, we are at home together.”

He described Simba as “the most reliable officer you could ever work with.”

“The loyalty, love and companionship you are shown — they gave back to you so much than you could ever give,” Diehl said.

Toms River Police Chief Michael Mastronardy and Diehl both agreed this was a tremendous loss to the department.

“We lost an officer,” Mastronardy said. “It is sad, it is devastating. Our K-9 officers do so much.”

Diehl said Simba aided “hundreds and hundreds of cases. There are too many to go into specifics about one case. He helped the Ocean County Narcotics Task Force, helped other towns who didn’t have K-9 officers, helped scent out suspects. He did it all.”

In addition, Simba was faced with daily training. For example, Simba would be given an item, and then he’d have to track down the staffer it belonged to on the police compound on Oak Avenue.

Diehl said Simba was often happiest showing off for demonstrations at elementary schools.

“He just loved to show what he could do. He had a big smile on his face,” Diehl said. “He was showing off. All dogs love to play. He loved it and the students just loved it.”

The sergeant said his own four children will also deeply miss playing with Simba.

“Every morning Simba would eagerly wait for them to get down with their cereal. They’d put the bowls down and he’d lap up all the extra milk,” Diehl said. It was a morning routine they’ll miss incredibly, he said. “He couldn’t wait for them to get done with the cereal so he could finish the milk.”

Mastronardy and Diehl praised the work of Simba, who was also a brother to two other local police dogs: the recently retired and Brick Township’s K-9 Codey.

“They were all from the same litter,” Diehl said. “Simba had a full life, a great life, and was an asset to fighting crime.”

Simba had a joy for the work of being a police dog. "When he'd hear the jingle of keys or see me putting on the uniform, he'd start to get excited and run in circles," Diehl said.

Mastronardy said that at one point there were seven canines in Toms River Police, but now there are three.

“We are also short officers due to a wave of retirements,” he said. “What we’re looking at is adding K-9s through the help of fundraising.” The said Community Medical Center raised enough money for adding another K-9 to the force.

The police department changed its Oak Avenue message board to say goodbye to its longtime officer: “Thanks for your years of service. Rest in Peace."