The Chesterton Police Department’s K-9s sniffed out drugs during traffic stops, helped conduct school searches, and served as furry public relations associates at the town’s many downtown festivals.
But the department, which at one point had two K-9 officers, now has none after Officer Erik Herbert recently left for another department and town officials decided to retire his police dog, Kahr. The shepherd, approaching 7 years old, was reaching the end of its life in law enforcement.
Town and police officials are debating whether the expense of the program is worth its benefits to the community. Though the brunt of the expense of purchasing the dogs in Chesterton and other departments comes from donations, some of the cost does fall to the town coffers, and area departments also have K-9s that are readily available if the need arises.
Chesterton reinstituted its K-9 program “in full force and effect” in 2010, Police Chief David Cincoski said, after it had fallen by the wayside for several years.
Fundraisers and donations from residents and businesses, as well as some money from the department budget, offset the cost.
“It was feasible to have two K-9s,” he said, adding the dogs, and training for them and the officers who handled them, ran around $15,000 apiece. The dogs are typically able to serve a department until they are between 7 and 9 years old.
Kahr was assigned to Herbert and another shepherd, Igor, was assigned to Sgt. Dan Rocha. Igor was retired last year after the dog developed arthritis from a previous injury, a broken leg received during training.
Herbert and Rocha were both allowed to keep their dogs after they retired.
‘By our policy, the handler has the right to establish custody of the K-9 after retirement,” Cincoski said. “They establish a bond.”
Kahr and Igor were trained to find narcotics so were often used for traffic stops, Cincoski said, as well as for school searches. The dogs also came into play at community events and visits by scouting and other groups when officers got the chance to demonstrate the dogs’ skills.
“It’s certainly going to be a tool that we’re missing out of our tool box,” said Cincoski, adding the dogs were a good fit for the department and residents often asked officers at public events how the dogs were doing.
For now, he will evaluate the department’s budget to see where the K-9 program might fit in, though the town council will have the final say.
“I would like to see the program reinstated in the Chesterton Police Department in some fashion,” he said, adding he would like to see the department have at least one dog.
Pete Duda, president of the town’s three-member police commission, also wants to see the program continue, though the police department does not currently have an officer who would meet eligibility requirements to have a K-9.
“I believe it’s the commission’s hope of when it can resume, not if it will,” Duda said.
The department’s officers have become comfortable knowing two K-9s have been available for much of the past several years but once they begin to feel the absence of those dogs, Duda said, an officer may step up and decide to take on the responsibility.
Officers interested in becoming K-9 handlers must go through a vetting process, and that’s just the beginning.
“You’re talking about the caring of a living, breathing entity, not something you put on a shelf and take down when you need it,” Duda said, adding K-9 officers need a home that can accommodate a dog and must take their family and other pets into consideration. “It is a commitment with a capital C, that’s for sure.”
Not all of the town’s officials are on board with continuing the K-9 program.
The dogs and the training they require are expensive, said Bernie Doyle, Chesterton’s town manager, and even if donations cover the brunt of that expense, some of it will still fall to the town’s budget.
While “everyone loves dogs,” he said, the ongoing cost, as well as the relatively short professional life of the dogs, put the program in question.
“So much of it depends on the need and I’m not sure there’s a need because it’s so expensive and there’s a limited application of the dogs’ skills,” Doyle said. “Yes, there were benefits to having two dogs, but I don’t see enough of a benefit there on a consistent basis to continue the program.”
Other departments, including Valparaiso, Portage and the Porter County Sheriff’s Department among them, also have K-9s Chesterton could rely on, Doyle said.
The sheriff’s department has five K-9s, three of which were provided by grants from the Porter County Substance Abuse Council, said Sgt. Jamie Erow, the department’s public information officer. Citizen donations and fundraisers, including T-shirt sales, also helped cover the costs for the purchase and training of the dogs.
“It’s not a fully funded program, though,” she said, adding money comes from the Board of Commissioners for vehicle cages and other needs, though veterinary and food bills are discounted by local businesses. “It has to be funded at some point (by the county) to pick up the slack.”
Chesterton should focus on hiring police officers instead of K-9s right now because that’s where the need is, said Town Councilman Emerson Delaney, R-5th, the council’s liaison to the police department.
Though much of the funding for Igor and Kahr came from private donations, the town is still under budgetary constraints.
“The main focus is to bring a couple more officers on board. That’s really our focus. If down the road there is an interest in a K-9 and we can fund it, you have to work it in,” he said. “The focus has been on two-legged officers, not four-legged.”
Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
