Montville Seeking Cost Estimates On K-9

The Public Safety Commission asked local police officials Monday to look into the costs of implementing a K-9 program at the Montville Police Department.

The agenda for the meeting included a request to send a letter to Mayor Ron McDaniel requesting funding for such a program. David P. Jetmore, chairman of the commission, asked Lt. Leonard Bunnell of the Montville Police Department and Montville’s resident state trooper Sgt. Martin Martinez to provide the committee with more information on K-9 costs.

“What we need is a fact sheet, with a plan saying, ‘This is what it will take,’” said Jetmore.

The commission approved revisions to the town’s K-9 policy in September in order to allow the possibility of including police dogs in the department. The Town Council voted in December to approve the revised policy.

Martinez previously said that the department is looking to acquire a Labrador retriever for use in tracking suspects and locating narcotics. The Montville Police Department has set aside $5,000 toward purchasing the dog at an estimated cost of $2,300 as well as renovations to a police vehicle to hold the dog.

The Labrador retriever would be working for rewards of food, which Martinez said would make it gentler than German shepherd patrol dogs that can be trained to bite suspects. The dog and its handler would be trained at an 11-week program in Meriden and require annual recertification.