COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
LOCAL NEWS
NBPD K9 Unit One Step Closer to Reality
NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. (RVO) by John Gerow – The domestic dog is either a subspecies of the Grey Wolf or Grey Wolves that man has selected and bred for specific traits. Dogs have a long and storied history as “man’s best friend.” The first authenticated arrangement between man and dog is the Bonn – Oberkassel Dog, the skeletal remains of a wolf like creature buried with a human some 14,500 years ago. Disputed remains suggest that man was interacting with wolf – creatures more than 30,000 years ago. Either way, the dog has been around a long time, and has been part of human development from the very beginning of modern human evolution.
New Bethlehem Chief of Police Robert Malnofsky believes that police dogs are essential to effective policing in our modern American society. Well trained dogs can serve many functions in modern police work. Dogs can be trained to track, search and rescue, and find bodies as well as sniffing out explosives and narcotics. Chief Malnofsky also thinks that police dogs work well as a public relations tool, making local police seem more friendly and more helpful to children. Chief Malnofsky sees the police dog as one of the best PR tools that a police department can have.
New Bethlehem Borough Police Department
Mankind has used dogs for many things since the earliest of times. Ancient Greek mythology has a three – headed dog guarding the Gates of Hades. It is likely that dogs had worked with humans for thousands of years before the Greek myths appeared. The earliest use of dogs was likely as a food source; hunting aid, guarding, and beasts of burden likely emerged early in the relationship between man and dog. The territorial instinct of wolf creatures makes protection of camps a very likely early use of dogs. The empirical Romans made use of dogs in their armies and we know for certain that Native Americans used dogs for guarding and carrying and pulling loads. Historical records post Columbian contact confirm that the Indians would eat dogs in times of extreme famine.
Since arriving in New Bethlehem, Chief Malnofsky has been working to bring a police dog into the Borough’s police department. Chief has set some rigid standards for his K9 project – among other things, the K9 unit must be completely privately funded. Chief Malnofsky has been exploring every avenue available to establish the New Bethlehem K9 unit. A couple of his first efforts petered out with no dog to show for his efforts. The most recent effort was an internet contest where residents “voted” to get the dog. At one point in the contest, New Bethlehem was in the top 10, but fell short of votes by the end of the contest. Serendipitously, less than a day after finding out that New Bethlehem had not won the internet contest, Chief Malnofsky received a $5,000 donation to purchase a police dog.
Perhaps the earliest use of dogs in police work was the use of bloodhounds to track suspects and escapees. Bloodhounds tracking escaped cons is a staple of the American crime movie. London (UK) police used bloodhounds to search for Jack the Ripper in 1888 and at that time began using dogs on regular police patrols. In 1899 the Ghent (Belgium) police began training dogs for police work. Germany had police dogs working in 600 cities by 1910 and South London (UK) introduced two trained Labrador Retrievers into their police force in 1938.
Chief Malnofsky has been researching police dogs for a long time. There is an extremely highly qualified trainer here in Western Pennsylvania with whom the Chief as been talking. This particular trainer is one of the top certified trainers in the country and offers a life time of maintenance training and recertification training with each dog that he sells. While the dogs that he finds for local police may be expense, the continuing training and recertification training truly sweetens the deal.
In the 1970s, police dogs became popular with American Police departments. Police dogs are specially trained for one or two specific roles. Different police agencies use dogs for detecting explosives and narcotics, tracking, and finding dead bodies (cadaver dogs). The dogs and their handlers go through rigorous and ongoing training. The dog must bond with the handler, and they must be trained together over the working life of the dog.
Police dogs undergo continual training throughout their careers.
Acquiring the dog is only the first major expense in having a K9 unit. Beyond the initial training which can run up to $5,000 depending on whether the dog is trained just for narcotics or for both narcotics and patrol, there are other ordinary, and somewhat extraordinary expenses with a police K9. Along with the normal dog food, treats, and preventative medications (worming, flea repellent and such), one vehicle in the department must be retrofitted to be a K9 unit. A specially equipped kennel pen with heating and cooling capabilities with remote release can cost upwards of $1,500. There is also the continuing cost of traveling to the maintenance training every week. But Chief Malnofsky believes that the value to both the police department and the community are well worth the expense
Chief Malnofsky also believes that the K9 serves other crucial functions that may be as important as drug interdiction. The K9 is an incredible, good-will ambassador. The dog humanizes the police officer, making him seem less threatening and more accessible, especially to children. Making police less frightening to children helps to develop better communication between the community and police as time goes on. Like Sargent Clark having lunch with the elementary school kids, the dog will help break down the wall of distrust between cops and community. And the best community policing happens when the people and the police are working together.
The Chief has plans in the works to begin raising money for the training and upkeep of a K9 dog. He is talking with several area fire departments and is planning a basketball tournament and Chinese Auction for some time in January. He is also talking with area banks to set up a donation program that he calls “The Battle of the Banks”. The concept is simple and it is fun. Each of the banks will take (and hopefully make) donations to the K9 project. The bank that generates the most donations for the cause, will be awarded the K9 Unit account. These two fundraisers will not carry the K9 program, but they are a start. There are also charitable foundations that specifically fund small police force K9 units. Some of the grants are just cash, but others, like the Project Paws Alive, make specific grants for items designed to provide safety measures such as bullet and stab proof vests and heating and cooling units for vehicle kennels. Western Pennsylvania’s own Ben Roethlisberger Foundation has donated more than 2 million dollars to police and fire department K9 units around the country. Chief Malnofsky hopes that the community will get behind the K9 idea and help to develop it to where it can be financially self-sustaining; a law enforcement tool and an asset to community revitalization creating a special bond between the police and the people.
Please call the New Bethlehem Police Department – (814) 275 – 1180 – for more information on the K9 program or to donate.
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MEETINGS:
New Bethlehem Borough meetings are held the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 7:00pm at the Alltel/Windstream Building on Lafayette Street. Folks may contact the Borough’s office to be placed on the meeting agenda.
MISSION:
New Bethlehem Borough Council fosters business, community, and personal growth within the borough while maintaining the small town appeal and family friendly environment that makes New Bethlehem such a great place to work, live and raise a family.
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CONTACT:
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For more info, please visit New Bethlehem Borough’s website: NewBethlehemBoro.com
