Town Marshal Kelly Fisher presented a request to purchase a dual-purpose K-9 officer during Monday night’s North Judson Town Council meeting.
Fisher addressed the fact that one of their part-time officers, Scott Beishuizen, does have a K-9 but she feels having one on the full-time force would be advantageous. She explained that after conducting some research, she found that the Peru-based organization Vohne Liche Kennels has the best available training program. She also mentioned that Vohne Liche dogs are less likely to be involved in law suits due to the level of training they have. She presented council members with booklets detailing what the organization offers.
Fisher said, “The course teaches the K-9 and the handler the proper techniques to be a successful team and what we what we thought would fit best and what would give us the most for our money would be to get a dual-purpose K-9.”
A dual-purpose dog would be able to assist in patrol work with narcotic detection and other patrol duties and could also do tracking. Tracking capabilities would not only be useful for criminal cases but the K-9 could also assist with amber-alerts, silver-alerts and other missing person cases.
She added that the company states if there are any medical issues or other problems with the assigned dog, the company will take it back and replace the animal for no additional cost.
She said she and Officer Rico Simpson, who has volunteered to be the handler for the potential K-9 officer, visited San Pierre Veterinary Clinic and they said they could provide the same benefits to NJPD that they give to the Sheriff’s Department which would be free vaccinations and a free annual physical. She said she also looked into the cost of insuring the dog and it would be a $160 yearly fee.
The total cost to purchase the dog from Vohne Liche would be approximately $15,000. Fisher said the Police Department does have some left over funds in their budget but they’d also be willing to do fundraisers to come up with the remainder of the money. She added that many local businesses have also said they’d provide financial assistance.
Town Attorney Justin Shramm said that the Town may have some public safety funds available that could also go toward this cause. Clerk-Treasurer Andrew Rowe said he would look into that possibility and report back.
Council President Wendy Hoppe suggested that Fisher draw up a time-line and work out when they would want to have a certain amount of money raised. She said the council would take the request under advisement and revisit the topic at future meetings.
