BURTON, Mich. (WNEM) – The Burton Police Department will soon have a double dose of serving and protecting on four legs. For the very first time, two K-9 officers will be added to the police department.
Police Chief Brian Ross told TV5′s Zain Omair about the training they must undergo before patrolling the streets.
The new K-9, whose name is Walter, is currently in training and getting ready to hit the streets to help protect the city of Burton.
“We have a long K-9 history in the city of Burton,” Ross said.
But soon, for the first time ever, Burton police will have two pups on their patrol.
“You can always have more K-9s,” Ross said.
Both are German Shepherds, and Walter is already in training.
“They have to learn how to detect, you know, certain things. Drugs, both of our K-9s will be specialized in drugs, and they’ll learn how to track people, they’ll learn bite work,” Ross said.
Ross said K-9s can be helpful, especially when it comes to their sense of smell.
“We have detection, crime detection, we find missing persons – and that’s a big one. You can’t put a price on finding someone that’s missing,” he said.
Each K-9 costs about $12,000 plus the cost for food and care. Ross said Burton’s mayor and city council recently expanded funding for them.
“This is the first time that we’ve actually had the K-9 program in our budget because of the mayor and city council. Before it was just all donation based,” he said.
Both Walter and his partner are expected to start their service in the next month or two.
“Having two actually allows us to have a dog on the road more often. So we’ll have one on day shift and night shift, and the more we can provide services, the better off everybody is,” Ross said.
The new K-9s aren’t the only new crime fighting tool for Burton police; Ross said the department is also planning on purchasing a drone soon.
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