The Webster City Police Department will soon add a furry, four-legged officer to its ranks after the Webster City City Council approved a plan to reinstate the department’s police K-9 program on Monday night.
WCPD Chief Shiloh Mork told the council that it has been about a decade since the department had a K-9 unit. The previous K-9 unit was started by former WCPD Chief McConnell under a pilot program through a federally-funded grant to deploy more K-9 units throughout Iowa. Due to the lack of funding and the dog aging out of service, the program ended around 2011.
Drug activity in Webster City is a problem, the chief said. The WCPD no longer has a full-time narcotics investigator and as a result, narcotics incidents have increased.
In 2021, methamphetamine, marijuana and cocaine have all been seized from suspects within Webster City city limits, said WCPD Officer Anthony Luft.
Luft said it can be difficult for officers to establish enough probable cause on a traffic stop to justify a search. A K-9 unit could do an “open-air sniff” around a vehicle and signal to the officer if it picks up a drug scent, increasing the likelihood of detecting illegal drugs and leading to more arrests.
“We must keep these drugs out of the hands of our children,” Luft told the council. “A K-9 is the most effective tool to make that happen.”
A K-9 unit would provide more than drug enforcement, Luft said. The K-9 can assist in locating lost individuals, be deployed to track hiding and fleeing suspects, de-escalating a situation and in conjunction with D.A.R.E. programs in schools and community events.
The K-9 unit — both the dog and its officer handler — will need to be certified and continue a minimum of 16 hours of training each month.
The first year of adding a K-9 unit to the force will be the most expensive, Luft said. Cost-saving measures include a grant from the organization Dogs for Law Enforcement to donate a three-year-old German shepherd/Belgian Malinois mix named Moab. Training for K-9 Moab and his handler would be just under $10,000. Instead of purchasing an $80,000 4×4 pickup with installed specialized equipment, Luft proposes using a 2013 Tahoe the department already has. The cost to re-decal the vehicle would be about $1,000, he said. The veterinary budget would run about $500 and food, training and housing supplies would be about $3,000.
Luft said the department will be looking into fundraising and grant options, including contacting local businesses about donations.
According to Luft, the proposal is a response to those who have expressed concerns with potential drug activity in the city’s neighborhoods.
With the council’s approval on Monday night, the WCPD will now move forward with securing the grant offered by Dogs for Law Enforcement for the donation of K-9 Moab and schedule the March 2022 basic training course with Tree Town Kennels for Moab and his handler, who is yet to be selected.
The city council also approved an agreement between the city and Hamilton County to combine a township and city precinct involving Webster City Precinct 1 and the unincorporated portion of Cass Township that is surrounded on all sides by the corporate limits of Webster City and on the north and west sides by Kendall Young Road.
The city council also approved contracts for city projects, including:
-$23,300 to Peterson Construction for the Water Treatment Plant Aerator Support Structure Repair
-$90,775 to Woodruff Construction of Fort Dodge for the City Hall Basement and Floor Reconstruction Project
View this article as it originally appeared in the Daily Freeman-Journal.
Last modified: December 21, 2021