Police: K-9 unit extremely effective
By Michael Hall, The Brunswick News, Ga. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
He got his chance, working closely with the couple of dogs the department had when he started.
The department eventually found itself in a tough situation when both dogs died within months of each other.
Continuing the K-9 program would be difficult with a strapped city budget, but Babbin decided to launch a fundraising effort.
And it's worked. Today, around
Now, the K-9 program has three dogs that are helping police find drugs and catch criminals.
His dog, Brax, has just in the past several months contributed to at least 10 arrests by sniffing for drugs and tracking down suspects. Brax also has helped with the seizure of several pounds of narcotics.
Altogether, Brax, Officer
A trained and certified police dog that alerts its human partners to the possibility of drugs in a car or on a person is probable cause for a search under
Kilo and Bob were purchased with donated money and grant funding, and all three dogs are cared for using nothing but donated money and equipment, costing the department nothing, Babbin said.
Not only have they been effective, but the dogs are also wonderful to work with, he added.
"It's so rewarding," Babbin said of learning to read Brax's body language and how to interact properly with a trained police dog. "We're a team."
All three dogs and their human handlers have to go through 16 hours of training every month to maintain certain state and federal certifications.
Keeping up with certifications and maintaining three healthy well trained dogs is not cheap, which is why Babbin is thankful for the help that continues to appear from places he never expected.
Plenty has come from local businesses and residents.
"I'm a big advocate for safety, and these four-legged officers are essential to keeping our town safe," said
Since starting the effort, more than
He said raising money for the dogs was a no-brainer.
"We initiated a Community Cause program a few months ago because we truly value our community and when we heard about the K-9 unit needing funds, we just knew we had to step in and help," Dunagan said.
-- Reporter
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