K-9 in training to patrol courthouse complex
Harry Truman said, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.”
The 33rd president of the United States was referring to Washington, D.C., not Washington, Pa., but a canine should soon be a working companion to a Washington County sheriff’s deputy at the courthouse and complex.
Obie, a black Labrador retriever, will specialize in security and sniffing for explosives. He is in training with Deputy Sheriff Kristie Salzman, and she and the K-9 are expected to be on the job later this summer. The pair also will be available for deputies or other area agencies that ask for help. Obie’s tracking abilities will allow him to assist the department’s fugitive unit and help in searches for people who are missing.
“Right now, there’s no dog like that in Washington County,” said Sheriff Samuel Romano. If a law enforcement agency in Washington County needed the services of a bomb-sniffing dog, members would call on Greene or Allegheny counties for aid.
The cost of the dog, training and equipment from Shallow Creek Kennels Inc. in Sharpsville, Mercer County, was $12,500.
“This money was raised through donations, and no county dollars were used,” said county Controller Michael Namie.
County solicitor J. Lynn DeHaven discussed the issue of liability with the county’s carrier and learned that a K-9, for insurance purposes, is considered a deputy sheriff. Taxpayers foot a bill of $1,000 per deputy per year.
The topic of a K-9 did not surface at the June 16 commissioners meeting, but an Observer-Reporter story about the sheriff’s department’s fundraising effort appeared in April.
Commission Vice Chairman Diana Irey Vaughan said Wednesday she learned last week “there was a pickup scheduled for the dog. The correct procedure would have been for a formal request to come before the board of commissioners in a public meeting.”
Romano had spoken to Irey Vaughan and Commissioner Harlan Shober separately some time ago about the K-9, and the sheriff thought he had fulfilled the requirement. Irey Vaughan called the omission “a last-minute communication lapse.”
Irey Vaughan and Shober approved the purchase via email, which the board plans to ratify retroactively at the July 21 meeting.
“Most other counties have a dog with this capability,” Irey Vaughan said.