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K-9 Units Becoming Increasingly Vital For Area Towns
By Keith Hagarty
Howell, Brick, Toms River and other townships have long known the benefit of having their own K-9 units. Now, after years of helping out beyond their own borders, Jackson is learning the same.
With a nose for sniffing out illegal drugs and contraband, canine police officer Neo wasted no time leading his handler to the hidden item found in the meeting room of the Jackson Council.
Most officers don't get rewarded with a pat on their head for uncovering evidence, but the 3-year old black labrador retriever was more than appreciative as he enthusiastically jumped at the chance to show off his skills for Brick Township Police Officer Ron Braen and the Jackson governing body.
In an effort to harness such police canine skills in Jackson, Township Police Officers Kevin Chesney and Joseph Oleksy joined Brick Township K-9 Police Officer Ron Braen and Neo to show why Jackson would benefit from having its own police canine unit. It's a lesson neighboring communities have already learned.
Police dogs have a number of benefits to the police department, Chesney said, pointing to the additional support and protection of officers already on the road, criminal apprehension, providing a quicker, more effective method for searching for drugs and other contraband in a motor vehicle or on a suspect, bomb detection and reinforcing positive public relations with residents.
The community aspect can also be a major advantage in breaking down the barriers between cops and kids, according to Chesney.
"The dog will be out there and people will see it," he said. "What I've seen from the reaction to Officer Braen's dog, everybody comes up and wants to see him."
Leaning On Help From Neighbors Jackson previously had a canine unit for over 20 years but disbanded the program in the 1990s because of a court-ruling handed down in Texas, making it too expensive for the town to continue the unit at the time.
"Basically when this ruling came out, it was that all officers would be paid and compensated for off-duty time," he said. "So police officers would be on the road for eight hours, with there other 16 hours would be for maintaining and taking care of the dog, and the court said that they were to be compensated for that."
However that ruling was revised in 2001, stating that the canine unit would be held to a different set of standards and rates than normal overtime for officers.
The revised ruling could now allow for a canine unit to once again be run by the police department without placing an undue strain on their budget, Chesney explained.
Without a canine unit in place, the Jackson Police Department has had to rely on the assistance of other canine units from neighboring municipalities, such as Howell, Brick, Plumstead and Toms River.
"However, what's been happening over the
years is their (canine) units are becoming
more busy in their own towns," said Chesney. "Everybody is feeling the need."
While the Jackson Police Department greatly appreciates the assistance from those outside canine units, Chesney said the pressing logistics of the town's growing needs make such a continued reliance on the generosity of other town's quite problematic.
"They're not going to respond to our town's increasing needs," he said. "We call for them and they come and help us out, but we know it's not going to be for an hour, two hours, three hours, and sometimes we just can't wait that long on certain calls."
Dogs Provide Valuable Service
There are several different types of police dogs available, such as ones for patrol, narcotics, cadaver, tracking, arson and explosive/ bomb detection. The police are looking for a dog that can be cross-trained, utilizing several of specialized skills.
The dogs used by canine units throughout the region typically come from the Czech Republic, with their price ranging from $5,000 to $7,000, and the state police offering startup training at no cost to the township.
Some of the fees associated with running a canine unit could be reimbursed over time through the police department's seizure of cash, vehicles, property and other possessions often involved in cases needing a canine unit, according to Chesney.
A few years ago when Hurricane Harbor at Six Flags had its grand opening, Braen recalled being called to the amusement park because a suspicious package left on the grounds. Within minutes of the dog being sent to the device, it was determined that the package was a fake, however the park and its patrons experienced a major inconvenience and lost time as they waited for the canine unit to respond.
"An employee had noticed several pieces of PVC tubing wrapped altogether with fuses at the end, and it was placed strategically near a restroom. Somebody spotted it, and we responded," said Braen. "It took quite a while before we got a dog to come out to sniff on it to see if it was a positive or negative (explosive device). We were taught that you can see it, but don't touch it or disturb it because you don't know what the triggering device is. But the dogs can smell what we can't see."
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