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The Helen City Commission voted to approve spending up to $10,000 to support a K-9 unit in the Police Department.
The Helen City Commission approved the acquisition of two trained dogs to form a K-9 unit in the Helen Police Department at a called meeting April 6.
Sgt. Chris Barrett presented the commissioners with two agencies from which the dogs could be acquired.
The first is an organization called Southern Coast K-9. Southern Coast K-9 provides trained dogs for $9000. This agency trains dogs how to detect drugs like methamphetamine, heroin, crack, and cocaine. The dogs can be trained in detecting marijuana for an additional $500. But Barnett says with many states legalizing the drug, law enforcement officers are not focusing on marijuana K-9 detection. “If an officer on a traffic stop can’t smell marijuana, probably not enough in there you need to be messing with anyway. Like in the states it’s legal, it’s legal up to a certain amount, and anything over that amount is illegal,” said Barrett.
Helen resident Bjorn Engebretsen has raised funds so that the dog can be purchased at no cost to the city. Jumping Goat Coffee, Two Tire Tavern, the Hofbrauhuas, Cowboys and Angels, and Cafe International have all pledged to contribute equally to cover the cost. Barrett has also found ways to cover vet costs at a reduced rate through Cleveland Vet Hospital and cover the cost of food for two dogs through Hollywood Feed Pet Store. Hall County is offering a free course that will certify the officers as K-9 handlers.
Barrett is working on trying to get used kennels from larger law enforcement agencies that don’t need them. This would mean the only other cost to the city would be the gas, hotel room, and pay for the officer that would make the trip to pick out the dog.
The second option for obtaining a dog is through a prison in the state of Pennsylvania that is closing and needs to re-home its working dogs. There are sixteen certified dogs available however, Helen officers will only be choosing from the dogs that are not trained to bite and will strictly be for narcotics detection. These dogs are anywhere from five to six years old, the dogs that come from Southern Coast K-9 will be from one to two years old. According to Barrett, a narcotics dog can work for 10 to 12 years, so any dog from the prison should be able to work for about five years. The cost of retrieval goes up sightly, however the dog would be free to the city.
Barrett said that they are looking at Belgian Malinois and German Shepard to fit with the theme of Helen. “We have so many tourists and people and I ant them to be able to come up and pet the dog, when we give permission. So it could also be a PR, public relations type animal. And being German we could even call it Helen if you wanted to,” said Barrett.
The Helen city commission voted to utilize both options and take one dog from each. Having two dogs means there will be K-9 available on patrol for each shift. This decision will also allow the department to compare the differences between working with an older dog and a younger dog to see what they prefer. As part of their motion, they approved spending up to $10,000 on the maintenance of the dogs and any items that the department may need to purchase.