Red Bank is looking into the possibility of adding K9s to its Police Department, which would assist officers in finding narcotics, people and crime scene evidence, as well as help protect the officers assigned to be the dogs' handlers.
"It's one of the things I believe is certainly missing from our agency," said Police Chief Tim Christol, who was asked by Commissioner Ed LeCompte to give a presentation for commissioners on the subject at a recent work session.
Christol invited Sgt. Sean O'Brien and Sgt. Rusty Morrison, K9 officers with the Chattanooga Police Department, to attend and answer questions.
As an example of the usefulness of police dogs, O'Brien pointed to the August capture of a child predator who had escaped from Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute. A police dog was able to find the man hiding behind rocks behind the Wal-Mart on Signal Mountain Road.
O'Brien also pointed out that when an officer pulls someone over, the officer cannot search that person without their permission or probable cause. When an officer with a dog pulls someone over and the dog indicates there are narcotics in the vehicle, the officer then has probable cause to search it. This helps get more drugs off the streets, as well as guns from people who shouldn't have guns, said Morrison.
While RBPD doesn't have any dogs of its own, it does have the occasion - and need - to use them, Christol said. The department requested the use of dogs from other departments 41 times last year, and while the CPD and the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department allow Red Bank to use their dogs free of charge, there have been a number of occasions when there were none available, he said. Often, the need is too urgent to wait for a dog requested from another department, Christol added.
"We can use them a lot more if we have them," he said.
The Sheriff's Department has five dogs, said Christol. The city of Chattanooga has six multipurpose patrol dogs and three dogs that specialize in detecting bombs or narcotics, said O'Brien.
"You can't have dogs trained to smell both bombs and narcotics," he explained, as the dog's handler wouldn't be able to tell which the dog was detecting.
Police dogs spend 12-16 weeks training, and K9 officers undergo a six- to eight-week handling course, said O'Brien.
A donor has agreed to purchase two dogs for Red Bank which have been bred specifically for police work. Such dogs typically cost between $9,000 and $10,000 apiece, said Christol. Funds from drug seizures can be used to purchase the dogs' equipment and food, he added. Morrison said the CPD spent between $4,000 and $5,000 on food for its nine dogs last year.
Red Bank Mayor John Roberts said the board would discuss putting police dogs on the budget for next fiscal year when it's established this July.