Editor’s Note: Police1 “First Person” essays are the place where P1 Members candidly share their own unique view of the world. This is a platform from which our members can share their own personal insights on issues confronting cops today, as well as opinions, observations, and advice on living life behind the thin blue line. This week’s feature is from P1 Contributor John Bennett, a lieutenant with the Charleston (Ill.) Police Department and is in his 20th year with that agency. Want to share your own perspective with other P1 Members? Send us an e-mail with your story.
By Lt. John Bennett
Charleston (Ill.) Police Department
On a fall day in October 1994, I found myself standing at the entrance to the police academy where I would spend the next fifteen weeks of my life learning and training with my new canine partner, a Malinois named Rex. I was blissfully unaware of the challenges that lie ahead — all of which would prepare me for the next eight years as my department’s first canine handler. The previous eight months had been spent conducting a vigorous fundraising and public relations campaign that culminated in my arrival at the academy that day. I was living the dream that many fellow law enforcement officers long for and often fight to obtain; often unsuccessfully. So just how do you convince your department to start a canine program?
For me, that was the easy part. Our chief was a fan of canine and had wanted to establish our own unit after the local sheriff’s department had done so a few years before. Budget constraints did not allow for the program to be funded through city coffers, but we struck oil in the form of a sizeable donation from our local Moose Lodge that got the ball rolling. That initial donation, along with the blessing of the city administrators, allowed us to go ahead with the dream of establishing our own program.
For those not as fortunate as we were, the first obstacle involves convincing your department of the need for a four-legged crime fighter. One doesn’t usually have to look too far to find stories of how canines successfully locate and apprehend dangerous suspects, find copious amounts of illegal drugs and cash or track lost children. These exploits, however, must be put into context with regards to the specific needs of the department the canine team would be serving. It would be ineffective, for instance, to attempt to sell the idea of a canine program based upon finding multiple kilos of cocaine during highway drug interdiction operations, to a rural department far from an interstate highway system or main artery to a drug destination city. The particular needs of your department must come first.
I also recommend identifying any particular ‘apprehensions’ (pun intended) a reluctant chief or sheriff may have with starting a program of their own. In doing so, try to determine if their fears are general in nature or based upon specific instances they may be aware of that have negatively impacted their opinions of canine. Canine programs, just like any other potentially ‘high-risk’ or liability-fraught law enforcement endeavors, can suffer from poorly trained or mismanaged units. However, for every bumbled canine program, there are dozens of others throughout the United States that are well ran and highly successful.
There is, however, one benefit that a well-run canine program can provide to every single department regardless of size or geographic location- public relations. Canine programs are an excellent way for a department to reach out to the public it serves, from human-interest stories of the team’s exploits to educational talks and public demonstrations. Most communities (though not all) will also welcome the addition of a canine team to their local law enforcement agency that engages in drug-related searches of local schools. I am also aware of several instances where an agency solicited community involvement in actually choosing the name of a newly acquired police dog.
Another obstacle that often shares the spotlight with need is that of money. Most law enforcement agencies always seem to be stretched thin when it comes to funds, especially during tough economic times. The initial start-up costs associated with a canine program can seem overwhelming at first, making the addition of a dog to the department cost-prohibitive. One tool that we used to overcome that challenge was fundraising. In fact, every dollar my department spent on starting our program came from donated funds. By the first day of basic handler’s school, we had raised enough money to purchase everything we needed, including the dog and associated equipment, training, lodging and meals and even a brand-new and fully equipped squad car.
One caveat: Do not skimp when it comes to purchasing your dog. The trend has changed over the years from using as many donated dogs as possible to purchasing dogs that have been evaluated and in some cases, trained, for police work. That is not to say that a donated dog ‘won’t’ work. In fact, the most recent addition to our canine program was a donated Malinois. However, that dog was donated by a breeder that raises dogs specifically for this type of work. In the long run, you’ll be money ahead by making that initial investment in a dog that was born and bred for this specific purpose. The old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ definitely applies in this situation. Just do your homework.
Our fundraising program began with the drafting of a letter to the community on departmental letterhead outlining our objective. In the letter, we included information justifying the addition of a canine team to the department, the dog’s potential capabilities and outlined our fundraising goal. A copy of this letter was given to each and every business, individual and organization that we solicited for funds, along with a personal visit from me for a short presentation. We visited civic and church groups, clubs and organizations and solicited donations from large businesses in our community. We also involved our local press, using a series of human-interest stories outlining our goals and keeping the community apprised of our progress. This particular tool worked so well for us that even after more than fourteen years (after having served with my dog for eight years and retiring him six years ago) I am still asked by members of the community if I am still handling Rex. My department has had three more dogs since that time and we have used privately raised funds to defer almost all of the costs of replacing retired dogs.
Outside the initial start-up costs of a canine program, actual year-to-year maintenance costs can be relatively minimal. Common annual expenses usually consist of medical needs, feeding and care of the dog, squad car maintenance and any annual membership dues to professional canine organizations and annual certifications. Deals can be worked with a local veterinarian for in-kind donations such as covering the cost of annual vaccinations, medications and treatment. Similar arrangements can be made with a local retailer or ‘sponsor’ for covering the costs of feeding the dog. In our case, for example, the M&M Mars Corporation/ Master Foods USA, makers of Pedigree-brand pet food, supplied food for the lifetime of the canine. Not only did they do so for our dog, but for a large number of police canines in our region as well. Other expenses, such as squad car maintenance, can be ‘absorbed’ into the costs of fleet maintenance for cars already in the department’s fleet or covered through the department’s budget.
A department with a well-organized public relations element can also benefit through continued annual donations from members of the community that support the program. Our department still collects funds from private individuals or clubs that have made our canine unit one of their primary organizations for charitable contributions. It’s all about positive community relations.
A successful canine program can be a very valuable asset to any police department. This may be easy to see from the viewpoint of an officer familiar with police canine, but individuals with little or no experience in that realm may need some convincing.
Enlisting the assistance of an individual in your area with canine experience and a successful program can often help with that ‘hard sell’ to reluctant administrators and hopefully get you on your way to beginning your own program. There are a number of national, regional, state and international police canine organizations and associations throughout the United States and Canada, such as the United States Police Canine Association or the North American Police Working Dog Association that offer a wealth of information on police canine programs. Do your research, formulate your plan and take the leap.
You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take!
