Michael Kunis trains 5-year-old Mako last week at the Chicago Police Department’s canine center in Des Plaines. (Antonio Perez, Chicago Tribune / November 10, 2013)
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By Jonathan Bullington, Chicago Tribune reporter
9:56 p.m. CST, November 17, 2013
They've been called the ideal police officer, able to seamlessly shift between capturing fugitives and captivating crowds. But as some suburban police departments expand or revive their canine units, others see no room in their budgets for man's best friend.
"Canines fall in and out of favor as a tool for police departments," said Paul Pomazal, K-9 training program director at TOPS Kennels in Grayslake.
The upside is huge, trainers and law enforcement officials say. One properly trained police dog and handler can search a building faster and better than 10 human officers and sniff out thousands of dollars in drugs or drug money that could end up covering part of the unit's expenses through asset forfeiture laws.
Yet those benefits are not enough to sway some suburban law enforcement agencies that don't see the need to spend tens of thousands of dollars starting a canine unit or risk a pricey court settlement over an errant bite.
"Starting a program is expensive," Pomazal said, adding that many canine programs end "because of litigation that puts a bad taste in their mouth."
In 2012, the city of North Chicago fired an officer accused of letting his police dog bite a fleeing suspect repeatedly until the man's leg broke and paid $40,000 to settle the complaint, according to a Tribune article.
Instead, some police officials say they're content to ask neighboring agencies with canine programs when they assistance.
"There's been a few times when there was just no canine available and you just have to go with what you got," said Kevin Bretz, a detective with the Batavia Police Department.
The department has made three or four calls to nearby St. Charles or other agencies for police-dog assistance this year, Bretz said. The requests are usually to help track suspects but can include drug detection, he said.
"The canines are a great tool for law enforcement," he said. "I wish there were a lot more around, but sometimes departments just can't make that commitment."
Departments from Des Plaines to Darien are making that commitment, though, either by adding dogs to their canine units or reinstating units that were cut years ago.
Arlington Heights reinstated its police-dog unit in 2007 after dropping the program nearly three decades earlier.
"We wouldn't know how to operate without them," Chief Gerald Mourning said of the department's three dogs: Layka, Max and Marco.
In Wauconda, the town's police dog retires in May, and a new dog — paid for, in part, through a Lake County grant — completed training this month.
Des Plaines Police Chief William Kushner requested a dog as part of last month's budget deliberations. It's been at least a decade since the city of about 58,000 had a police dog, Kushner said, and the years without one have left it at a "distinct disadvantage" by having to ask neighboring departments for canine help.
"If managed properly and worked right, we can make significant gains on the drugs and gangs," Kushner said, adding that the city's proximity to major highways puts it on a "drug courier route."
Most police dogs are bred in Europe, said Ken Licklider, owner of Vohne Liche Kennels in Denver, Ind. German shepherds, Dutch shepherds and Belgian malinois are the preferred breeds, he said, primarily because of their ability to detect narcotics and track people.
Police dogs and their handlers undergo several weeks of intensive training, as well as 16 hours a month of what is called maintenance training. Last year, Illinois joined a handful of states with mandatory minimum training standards for drug-detection dogs, said Jim Watson, an accredited master trainer and national secretary for the North American Police Work Dog Association.
The dog itself can cost about $6,000, but with training that price can top $20,000. Additional expenses include equipment, food, veterinary services and a specialized vehicle for transporting the dog.
Arlington Heights spends $6,000 to $8,000 a year on its three dogs. In Des Plaines, aldermen are poised to authorize nearly $114,000 for the K-9 officer's salary, plus $59,000 for the dog and vehicle.