2/10/14 Sheriff to purchase new K9 unit

  • By Nick Sabo
  • February 10, 2014
  • 392
                        
SUMMARY: Current K9 is showing his age; will continue to work in drug enforcement The Holmes County Commissioners will assist the sheriff’s office in acquiring a new K9 unit. Commissioners Monday Feb. 10 pledged to pay half the cost of a new police dog and training for its handler. According to Sheriff Tim Zimmerly, the dog and training will come in at around $14,000. Zimmerly said he should be able to come up with half the cost from drug enforcement funds. The sheriff’s current K9 unit, a belgian malinois named King, is seven years old “and is showing his age”, Zimmerly said. “King is aging a little bit faster than we thought. His teeth are going,” Zimmerly said. “We’ll use him as long as we can, even if we have two dogs at the same time.” Zimmerly said a K9 usually works until eight or nine years of age. The new dog will come from Gold Shield Canine Training, Zimmerly said. Gold Shield owner Dan Bowman will have a dog available for training in the fall, Zimmerly said. The current K9 unit is composed of King and his handler, deputy Tim Stryker. The new dog will train with another officer to make a new K9 unit. Zimmerly said the K9 units are an essential part of his office, assisting in investigations, pursuits and public relations. As a drug-sniffing dog, King is used to perform perimeter searches around a vehicle; if he detects drugs, it constitutes probable cause for a search. King is further trained to do tracking and can be sent in when a suspect may be hiding in a building, going in ahead of an officer. When confronted with a dog, suspects who otherwise might cause trouble tend to give up peacefully, Zimmerly said. “They’ll fight an officer in a heartbeat,” Zimmerly said. “(But) when there’s a dog prowling around and growling, they give up pretty fast.” King recently located a suspect armed with a .45 caliber handgun who hid outside a Charm residence after attempting to burglarize a nearby sporting goods store. The suspect surrendered without incident. King and Stryker visit the schools regularly for presentations and are always a big hit with the kids, Zimmerly said. Zimmerly said he expects to continue to use King even after the new dog has been trained and starts work. King’s duties will probably be scaled back to drug enforcement, performing searches. The Holmes County Sheriff’s office has utilized K9 units since 1993. In that time, Zimmerly said, they have become a routine part of law enforcement. “I don’t think we could operate without a K9 now,” Zimmerly said. After retirement, the dogs often live out the remainder of their lives with their handler. Commissioners expressed their appreciation for the K9 units, noting they have value both for their work in drug enforcement and the protection they offer to deputies. “They are a life saver for officers,” Ault said.


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