Officer by Day, Pup by Night

K-9 Absurd, along with his handler, Officer Aaron Lewis, helps the Texarkana Texas Police Department keep the community safe

By Lisa Porterfield Thompson

Photo by Dr. Robbin Rogers

Municipal employees, like those who work for any other organization, come in all shapes and sizes. Some are talented in strategic thinking and writing, while others flourish with data and analysis. This story is about a four-legged, furry employee who responds well to commands, is highly-trained, and is very, very good at his job. 

Absurd is a 2-year-old mixed-breed. He is a K-9 officer for the Texarkana Texas Police Department, and has been employed by the City of Texarkana, Texas, for about a year. His partner, Officer Aaron Lewis, and Absurd work in the narcotics division, helping TTPD identity and find illegal substances in many different circumstances.  “Absurd and I train constantly in all kinds of environments,” Aaron said. “From city streets to bathrooms to factories to schools, I try to expose him to as many different environments as I can, and then I ask him to do his job in those environments. “

During the warmest of days, Absurd enjoys relaxing in Officer Lewis’ home.

Absurd is a narcotics detection K-9, which means that he is trained to detect certain types of narcotics. Once he detects a substance, he goes through a specific change of events to indicate to Aaron that he is in the odor of the narcotics which he is trained to find. 

Aaron and Absurd have trained specifically for this role within the department, certifying as a drug detection team at Pacesetter K9 in Liberty Hill, Texas, and gaining national certification through the United States Police Canine Association this past year. 

After a long day of work, Absurd gets time to play with the frisbee in his backyard.

Aaron laments that Absurd is still a puppy, so while he knows how to work hard, he plays hard, too.  “A typical day with Absurd begins with about 10-15 frantic laps around my yard in the morning,” Aaron said. “Sometimes I can be heard screaming at him to let go of the water hose, but all-in-all its normally an uneventful morning. Most days we try to train at least 30 minutes of obedience drills and then at least 30 minutes of detection work. We are always also available to assist our patrol units and any other surrounding agency that request us. We have assisted other agencies numerous times successfully and have good working relationships with other departments.” 

Absurd lives with Aaron and his family.  “He has a large kennel outside, but normally runs the fence line, or is inside in his indoor kennel, especially lately,” Aaron said. “He’s only 2 years old, so he acts like a big puppy at the house. He knows when his collars aren’t on that work time is done, and now it’s play time. He spends most of his time playing frisbee or tearing a tennis ball into about 200 pieces.” 

Officer Lewis and Absurd during one of their training routines in detecting work at Pacesetter K9 in Liberty Hill.

Officer Lewis recalls one of his and Absurd’s first calls that has left a lasting impact.  “When Absurd and I became a team around a year ago, we got called to a traffic stop on Interstate 30,” Aaron said. “I had only been training with Absurd for a week or so, and we were still very new to each other. I was asked to deploy Absurd around the exterior of a vehicle that was stopped, and that led to Absurd alerting on the vehicle for narcotics. Absurd has a very specific (trained) mannerism that I have been trained to interpret. After we searched the vehicle, we discovered around 26 pounds of cocaine that had been hidden in a false compartment bolted to the bottom of the vehicle. This was our first deployment together and happened on Absurd’s first night in Texarkana. We haven’t looked back since.” 

Officer Lewis has held many positions for the Texarkana Texas Police Department, including Patrol Officer, a Problem Oriented Police (POP) team member, Narcotics Investigator, K-9 handler, Defensive Tactics instructor, TCOLE Instructor, and more. Most of his career has been spent investigating narcotics offenses and related issues. 

When Officer Lewis is out of town and can’t take Absurd with him, the K-9 enjoys being boarded at Happy Tails Boarding.

Officer Lewis grew up in the Texarkana area and graduated from DeKalb High School near the top of his class. He joined the military shortly after high school and ended up in the 82nd Airborne Division as an airborne infantryman. He served in the United States Army for several years and was deployed to Iraq several times. He is married to his wife of five years, and together they have a 2-year-old daughter.  “When I’m not working, I’m spending all my time with my family and my dogs,” Aaron said. “We like to take weekend trips often and vacation a few times a year.”