For nearly two decades, the Tell City Police Department provided a police k9 service to its citizens. The service extended beyond the jurisdictional boundaries of the city as we deployed the only working k9 teams in our county. We are proud of our rich history with three police canines dating back to 2006. With each dog came great success through apprehensions of drug violators and dangerous offenders, while providing an unwavering commitment to officer safety.
Following a brief delay in the service, we are pleased to share with our citizens that we have initiated the steps in rebuilding our K9 Program. Our vision for the program takes it to the next level by providing a balanced layer of protection and enforcement over our most targeted needs. We are working within the limitations of our operating budget to deploy two working canines, one of which will be assigned to partner with our school resource officer at Tell City Troy-Township School Corporation. This initiative is possible only through our valued partnership with the school corporation. We are excited to share more about our plans as we continue to navigate the steps.
Providing a police canine service is an expensive investment. In previous years, donation campaigns supported the purchase of the dogs and much of the essential supplies and equipment. In light of unprecedented hardships recently faced by our agency, funding this initiative is not without challenges. It is our hope that we receive continued support from our community partners. We are currently accepting donations to our pre-established canine donation fund. Donations can be made to the Tell City Police Department K9 Program at 707 Mozart Street, Tell City, IN 47586. We appreciate your support.
The benefits of having a police K-9 in the department are:
• A K-9s keen sense of smell helps them to detect items that a human officer might miss, especially drugs.. With training, K9s can even sniff out drugs that are sealed in plastic.
• A positive indication from a K-9 is legal grounds to establish probable cause for a search.
• K-9s are frequently used to track missing people in search-and-rescue missions. Dogs can track human scent to lead the police down the path that person took. This is also useful when tracking down suspects or escaped convicts. During a pursuit or search and rescue mission, every minute counts, so having this extra knowledge is invaluable.
• It’s quite common for K9s to make an appearance at local community events. These well-trained and adorable employees help to bond community members with their local police officers. Kids and families may be more likely to approach and engage with a police officer that has a friendly dog nearby.
