Brownsville K-9 issue to be revisited
BROWNSVILLE — Brownsville’s K-9 officer may be back on the street soon, depending on a vote during a special meeting Friday.
Council has scheduled a special meeting to take action on the K-9 agreement. The meeting will be held at 8:45 a.m. Friday.
Council President Jack Lawver explained that while council had agreed to start a K-9 program, the actual agreement accepting the dog never came before council and he hadn’t signed it. The dog, Ace, a German shepherd, was donated to the borough by Lone Wolf K-9, a training center in McClure, Ohio.
“If we do cancel the service, you get into the issue of reimbursement. If you terminate the service and don’t turn the dog back in, there is a fee involved,” Lawver said.
The dog and its training were donated, as have services and supplies needed for his upkeep. The borough did pay for police Officer John Brant to go to Ohio for training over the summer and the borough’s police car was outfitted to accommodate the dog, Lawver said.
Ace was sworn in on Aug. 19. Council then voted 4-3 on Sept. 18 to end the K-9 services, effective immediately, though at the time council members were unclear about the terms of the agreement with Lone Wolf. Lawver said he received a copy of the agreement last week.
The three members of council who voted against terminating the K-9 program, Tracy Sheehan Zivkovich, Charlie Perkins and Ross Swords, who had researched and obtained the K-9 grant, had asked for a special meeting for Monday to reconsider the K-9 issue. That meeting was not advertised because a quorum of council wasn’t available and all the needed agreement information wasn’t on hand, Lawver said.
“At this point, I’m not trying to rock the boat or create any waves until we get the dog back,” Swords said.
The dog has continued to live with Brant, who has been maintaining the dog’s training during his hiatus from the department. Zivkovich said one reason to address the issue now instead of waiting for the regular meeting on Oct. 16 is to keep the dog active.
“Ace isn’t working and he’s trained to work. We’re tying to get it so he can go back to work,” Zivkovich said.
Issues have been raised in the past regarding the dog being used outside of the borough and potential liability issues. Lawver said many questions have been resolved in the past several weeks.
“When the dog’s on duty, it’s pretty much a given that it goes wherever the officer goes,” Lawver said. “When the dog’s called out when the officer isn’t on duty, then it’s overtime.”
Lawver said there are contractual and scheduling issues that arise when a full-time officer works overtime, and those need to be addressed by borough policy regarding use of the K-9.
“If everything is done by policy, it’s the same as with police officers. If they follow the procedures we have in writing, the insurance company has something to go on if something goes wrong,” Lawver said.
Lawver said he is hoping all members of council can attend the meeting Friday because all members were present when the initial vote was taken to eliminate the K-9 program.