A decision has not been made on when the K-9 unit will resume at the Estevan Police Service (EPS).
The EPS’s long-time service dog, Harvey, retired last August after nine years alongside Sgt. Tyler McMillen. Since that time, the EPS has had access to the K-9 units of outside agencies, such as the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency, in case they needed a service dog, but they haven’t needed to call them.
When Harvey retired, police Chief Paul Ladouceur said they would revisit the K-9 unit’s future in the 2016 operations budget.
“Certainly I’d like to see a K-9 unit in 2016. But we’re just in the early stages of assessing our budget, looking at what purchases we require this year, and seeing how that’s going to fit into our budget,” said Ladouceur.
The EPS budget was approved by the police board, but now they’re determining which expenses will be included in the operations expenses. It’s also a negotiation year between the Estevan Board of Police Commissioners and the Estevan Police Association, and that will influence
their decision.
“It’s too early in the year to say where we’re at with the budget,” said Ladouceur.
There are some expenses in the budget that will be dependent on the value of the Canadian dollar versus its American counterpart.
The cost of purchasing a new police dog and training a new handler is contingent on the type of dog they want. Ladouceur expects the EPS will have one of the top units available.
“There’s a lot of liability that goes along when you have a dog that’s a multipurpose dog, so it’s designed for tracking and it’s designed for apprehension and it’s designed for drug detection,” said Ladouceur.
While public relations and school visits are an important part of the K-9 unit’s mandate, the dog has to be more than just a mascot for the EPS.
“This is a huge investment,” said Ladouceur. “It’s a five to seven-year term investment. So do you go and find the first dog you can get for $100? Or do you find the best dog you can get for that type of environment and that type of job?”
The cost for a top police dog can be up to several thousands of dollars, and training an officer can also be expensive.
“We want to get the best unit we can that’s going to produce the most for this community,” said Ladouceur. “We want a good dog. We want a well-trained handler that’s going to give benefit for the community.”
Ladouceur admits he has been asked by local officers whether he supports the K-9 unit, since it’s been six months since Harvey retired, and the chief tells them it’s just a matter of time until Estevan has a new police dog. And he acknowledges there are a number of officers who are interested in joining the program.
