Council approves a canine unit for police department
Most funding comes from federal grant
By Jeff Kearns
Man's best friend will soon become a cop's best friend in Los Gatos.
Thanks to a federal grant, the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department will be getting a canine unit for drug sniffing and search and rescue jobs.
The Justice Department will be picking up most of the $19,733 tab for the dog's training and other costs, with the police department paying 10 percent of that total.
The dog will be assigned to one officer, who will take it on patrol in a specially modified cruiser, and be on call 24 hours a day. The canine unit assignment lasts four years. After that, the dog can be retrained to work with another officer.
The grant was awarded to the department in September, and the Town Council voted to accept the grant March 1.
In a report to the council, Police Chief Larry Todd said the canine unit could have prevented three separate shooting incidents last year, which left two suspects dead. "At least two of those shootings could have been prevented if a dog had been present to effect less lethal tactics," the report said.
Although crime is on the decline in Los Gatos, Todd says drug-related crimes are up 38 percent over the last four years, and four drug labs have been found during that time.
"The use of dogs in searching for drugs saves considerable time for officers who must otherwise conduct painstaking searches of vehicles and buildings, and is a less intrusive manner of checking for drugs in closed containers, such as briefcases, luggage, or car trunks," the report said.
And having a dog makes officers safer from unpredictable suspects, Todd says: "[Dogs] do have the tendency to quiet down an individual who may have hostile intent toward an officer."
Kim Biderman, president of Community Against Substance Abuse, urged the council to accept the dog, which she said would help combat juvenile crimes like drinking and drug use. "Anything that is a psychological deterrent to that sort of activity, we would support," she said.
Los Gatos High School already subcontracts with the county to bring a drug-sniffing dog to campus. Todd says that it wouldn't be legal to bring the LG-MSPD's dog on campus there.
The dog will be a pure-bred German shepherd, which is the only kind of dog used for police work, according to Todd, because it has the most stable disposition of any breed.
The police department won't be able to name the dog, however; that's done while the dog is being professionally trained in Europe.
The dog, which will be about 3 years old when it joins the force, will probably stay on the force for about eight years, and when it's time to retire the dog, Todd says he'll recommend that the department sell it to its human partner for $1.
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
