The City of Baldwin voted to approve adding a K-9 unit to their police department. Although the council, missing Larry Lewallen, voted to approve the K-9 unit, this vote does not say that the council is to move forward with the final implementation of their potential working dog, Nikos.
The voices of Monday’s council agreed to the City of Baldwin having a K-9 program in the future, but it will remain to be unknown if Nikos will take on that role until he has proven himself in training. During the previous meeting, Councilwoman Stephanie Almagno, who was not convinced about the rescue dog, remained skeptical of approving the K-9 unit without seeing a contract for Assistant Chief Justin Ferguson, who would be the first K-9 handler for the city. “This is new,” Almagno said. “I want to make sure this is viable for the next council. This is why I’m dragging my feet.”
The council approved the item at the cost of $6,156.95, which will come from the public safety fund. The cost will decrease after the fiscal year 2023.
“It is not coming from the taxpayers’ pocket. It’s coming from the people who are speeding through a school zone,” Mayor Alice Venter said.
The money is to go towards a dog kennel, a donated item, going inside of a
police cruiser and other necessary gear for a police dog, while $100 of the total amount will go towards the police dog’s certification. Still, with Ferguson previously having experience as a handler, the city is saving a minimum of $480 in travel expenses to have a police officer attend the handler course.
Needing three approvals from the council total to get Nikos and Ferguson started on their way, the soon-to-be police dog and handler have been approved to take the first steps of the process: purchasing of equipment, establishing the K-9 unit and Baldwin agreeing to take ownership of a dog.
Although this does not limit the city to Nikos, he will have the chance to take the first steps.
Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell, who has one full-service K9 and one bomb dog (paid for by grant) in his employ, said a K-9 program is more involved than most realize.
Some of the hidden expenses include training aides, leashes, additional training and a proper kennel to keep the dog in, preferably with a concrete pad.
Terrell’s K-9 unit does tracking, drugs and apprehension, which takes a lot of extra hours of training. In addition, the human K-9 handler is on call 24/7 when the dog is needed, according to Terrell.
Ferguson will still be allowed his vacation time, but the dog will also be out-of-service when Ferguson is not available, Chief Administrative Officer Emily Woodmaster said Monday.
“You also have to take a certain amount of hours in a week to make sure the dog is being taken care of properly,” Terrell said. “You also need special uniforms for your human officer to go through the woods without being torn up, and if your officer is a shift guy, you need to build in overtime for him to cover other calls.”
Terrell also maintains state and national certifications for his office’s K9s.
The Northeast Georgian editor Matthew Osborne contributed to this report.