Explosives Detection K9 AcquistionMasterpiece on the Mississippi
TO Michael C Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM Mark M Dalsing, Chief of Police
DATE August 13, 2012
SUBJECT Explosives Detection le Acquisition
Dubuque
had
All-America City
'I I'
2007
INTRODUCTION
This memorandum will outline the Dubuque Police Department acquiring an explosive detecting le
BACKGROUND
In January of 2011 I sent you the attached memo detailing a plan to acquire a military le as an explosives detection le for
the Dubuque Police Department, and the Cay Council approved the plan at a February 7,2011 Council meeting In late
February 2011 we acquired the le and sent the le and handler to explosives detection training in Indianapolis While the le
had been preselected by the military as an explosives detection le by showing an aptitude for detection, once at the training
she did not meet criteria for certification The le was then adopted out as a pet
DISCUSSION
Within the last week, we have been contacted by former Dubuque Police Department lieutenant Randy Roy, now working for
a civilian- military contractor for le's, advising that he has another K9 available With military de- escalation in the Middle East,
more le's with field experience are available The le, a three year old Labrador Retriever is a fully trained detection le that
has experience working with the US Marine Corps Arrangements are being made at this time to adopt the dog from the
Marine Corps Should the Council approve this plan the K9 would then be transferred to the Dubuque Police Department,
trained with the handler, and then available for response to threats If it is not approved the le would be adopted out as a
pet As with the original attempt at acquiring an explosives detection le, the Dubuque Police Department intends on using
existing funds and resources to maintain this IB, including budgeted funds, grant funding and Dubuque Drug Task Force
forfeiture funds
RECOMMENDATION
The addition of a le for explosive detection has been deemed as the most feasible option for our immediate needs when a
bomb squad's start up costs, recurring expenses and training requirements are taken into consideration The opportunity to
obtain an already trained le will fill an immediate void in the department as well as save the department $5,000 to $10,000 in
the purchase of a new le
ACTION TO BE TAKEN
Review of this memorandum and City Council approval to proceed with the adoption and implementation of the K9, purchase
of equipment, and training of a new handler
Prepared by
Mark M Dalsing
THE CITY OF
DUB :� MEMORANDUM
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
January 27, 2011
TO: Michael C. Van Milligen
City Manager
FR: Mark M. Dalsing
Chief of Police
RE: K9 Acquisition
INTRODUCTION
This memorandum will outline the Dubuque Police Department acquiring an explosive
detecting K9.
BACKGROUND
The Dubuque Police Department and the Dubuque Fire Department had been having
informal conversations about policy and procedure in response to joint scenes, including
those involving explosives. The conversations have also included revisiting the need for
a bomb squad. The November 2010 bomb threat incident at City Hall resulted in formal
conversation.
In late November 2010, representatives of the Dubuque Police Department and the
Dubuque Fire Department formally met to discuss the above topics. A formal bomb
squad was discussed and it was decided that this should be researched further. During
this topic, Capt. Jim Lembke brought forward a suggestion that we determined was a
very viable option. Lembke suggested that we consider obtaining a K9 trained in the
detection of explosives & flammables. Lembke supervises the department's K9
operations and remains in contact with former Dubuque Police Department K9 handler
Randy Roy who now works with U.S. Army K9 units. Through discussions, Lembke
learned that the Army "retires" their K9's into civilian law enforcement use at no cost to
the agencies and that the K9's still have several years of working life available.
Under such a plan, the department would obtain a K9 at little to no cost as compared to
other K9's, for use as an explosives detection K9. This K9 could serve several duties. It
could be used in building sweeps (schools, dignitary visits), fire scene investigations for
the detection of accelerants, and for bomb detection. Keeping in mind the recent
incident at City Hall, under a similar situation we would respond the K9, have it "search"
the bag and then respond accordingly. In the City Hall case, the K9 would not have
indicated on the bag and we would have downgraded our response and removed the
bag for examination and ended the situation. If a K9 were to ever indicate on a parcel
we would know explosives were detected and would need to escalate the response and
have a bomb squad respond. Additionally these dogs can be cross trained into multiple
fields. The initial scenario discussed was obtaining a cross trained K9 capable of
explosives detection as well as open -air tracking such as for missing or lost people or
suspect tracking.
Besides the detection capabilities that would be available to local law and fire officials, a
nice component of this type of unit is the comparative cost. Since the unit would only be
used on an "as needed" basis, we would not need to equip a specialized squad car or
have some of the other costs associated with K9 units. The dog would remain at the
handler's residence until it is needed. This limited use of the K9 will also extend the
working life of the K9. Traditionally daily -use K9's have a working life of approximately
5 -7 years. Because of the limited use of an explosives detecting K9, we would
potentially be able to add several years of working life to this K9. The group decided
that we would continue to explore bomb response options with the K9 being the priority
topic to review with a formal bomb squad remaining as a secondary review topic.
Recently Capt. Lembke received a call from Randy Roy indicating that he has a K9 that
would be a good candidate for civilian law enforcement work. The K9 is trained on
explosive detection but is not adapting to cross training for apprehension (bite) duty.
Because the Army wants the dual training, they do not wish to keep this K9. The K9 is
an approximate one year old, female Belgian Malinois named "Four ". The Army would
allow us to "adopt" the dog from them at no cost. This K9 is already "imprinted" on a
variety of explosives and it is planned to expand the training to include additional
explosives and flammable substances and potentially for human scent detection for
tracking purposes.
Additional costs that we would incur would be for training and housing. Currently our K9
unit is fed and has its health concerns covered by donating partners. These community
partners, Theisen's, PetMed and Dr. John Haupert, have agreed to the same
arrangements with a new K9. Basic housing and work equipment including a kennel,
leashes, harnesses, bowls, officer uniform, etc. have been priced and will cost
approximately $1000. The most expensive items would be the training for the handler
and the training equipment for the K9. A training kit containing samples for ongoing
detection training ranges in price from $1500 to $3000. The training for the handler
would take place in Indianapolis, IN. It is a two week training session where we would
need to cover the officer travel, meals and hotel expenses. The training and certification
at this point is free. A preliminary estimate of travel and housing would be $1900 for one
officer and $2700 for two. We are pricing this for two officers as we are considering
sending our current K9 unit at the same time for additional training. The next training
block is in February 2011.
The department can cover all of the immediate expenses out of current budget funds. It
is my intention to seek out drug reversion funds from the Dubuque Drug Task Force but
the meeting is not scheduled until February 3, 2011. In order to get Council approval
and keep the adoption process moving forward so as not to lose the K9, I am seeking
approval prior to determining the final funding source. An additional K9 could have
some future budget impact. Currently we are able to fund our existing K9 operations out
of budgeted Patrol funds. It is expected that we will continue to do so with a second K9
but we might consider a separate line in the budget solely for K9 operations. It would
take some discussion as to whether this would be entirely police budget funded or if it
would be a joint police -fire project.
The Dubuque Police Department is continuing to research a formal bomb squad and
available options and possible expenses. The acquisition of a K9 would be viewed as a
component and would not end this research.
CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION
The addition of a K9 for explosive detection has been deemed as the most feasible
option for our immediate needs when a bomb squad's start up costs, recurring
expenses and training requirements are taken into consideration. The opportunity to
obtain a young, already trained K9 will fill an immediate void in the department as well
as save the department $5,000 to $10,000 in the purchase of a new K9.
ACTION REQUESTED
Review of this memorandum and City Council approval to proceed with the adoption of
the K9, purchase of equipment, and training of a new handler.
cc: Dan Brown
THE CITY OF
DUB `�:i _E MEMORANDUM
Masterpiece an the Mississippi
February 28, 2010
TO: Michael C. Van Milligen
City Manager
FR: Mark M. Dalsing
Chief of Police
RE: Explosive Detection K9
INTRODUCTION
This memo will detail the failed training of explosive detection K9 "Four" and the
resultant need to dispose of her.
BACKGROUND
With prior Council and City Manager approval, the Dubuque Police Department moved
forward with acquiring an explosive detection K9 from the United States Army. The K9,
named "Four" was donated by the Army and delivered to the department the week of
February 13th. During the week of February 20th, handler Paul Avenarius and Four, as
well as current department handler Brian Wullweber and his K9 Doerak, attended
specialized training with the Indianapolis Metro Police. During the training Four was
frequently tested on her abilities. While she showed generally good obedience skills,
she lacked attention skills and drive. When on task she would do well but would quickly
become distracted or uninterested in her tasks. Due to her performance, Indianapolis
Metro would not certify her. Based on conversation with the lead instructor, these skills
could eventually be taught through intensive training but there is no guarantee. While
some of the issues could be attributed to age /immaturity, there is no guarantee that this
isn't her "nature."
Because of the extensive training that would be required, the fact that it cannot be
guaranteed, and probably most importantly the fact that explosive detection has no
margin for error, we have decided that that Four will not be an acceptable K9 for this
task.
Four was formally adopted by Capt. Jim Lembke as the Army needs to transfer
ownership to an individual and not an agency. Once the Army transfers ownership to
the individual, they no longer have an interest in the K9 and the new owner can transfer
ownership to an agency or another individual. It is our intention to post a notice within
the DLEC that Four is available for adoption as a pet from Capt. Lembke. Several
people have already expressed interest and if more than one person requests adoption,
we will select the individual through a blind drawing.
The DDTF allocated $5000 to the project and any equipment purchased will either be
returned or otherwise retained until we make decisions on future K9's. We will continue
to explore the acquisition of another explosives detection K9. While this particular K9
did not work out we fully respect the expert advice of Randy Roy and the quality of K9's
the Army produces and will certainly explore other opportunities with them as well as
other ways to acquire a K9 for these duties.
CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION
While this particular K9 did not work out as planned, we were able to gain valuable
experience by having our handlers attend the training and do so at very little expense.
Each step of this process has increased our knowledge base and will help as we
develop this unit. However, this particular K9 has failed to meet the rigid standards we
would need to require and it is my recommendation that we give her to a good home.
ACTION REQUESTED
Review of this memo and approval to adopt Four off to a good home.