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K-9 Cain to join Lee at PCSD after city action
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Department is not only getting former Greencastle Police Officer Kyle Lee but his little dog, too.
Although in this case the K-9 Cain is a 90-pound six-year-old German Shepherd. His acquisition by the Sheriff’s Department was approved via Greencastle City Council at its May meeting on a 4-1 vote after a dog fight of a debate over the K-9’s monetary value.
The Council ultimately passed Resolution 2019-2 with Adam Cohen, Steve Fields, Gary Lemon and Dave Murray in favor, Mark Hammer opposed and Stacie Langdon abstaining. Councilman Tyler Wade was absent.
The city will receive $3,250 as compensation for Cain, who by expert accounts has three or four years of service remaining as a dual-purpose (drug dog/bite dog) police K-9.
“The city originally asked for $6,500 for the K-9,” Mayor Bill Dory said in introducing the resolution. “I’m disappointed we received an offer of $3,000 from the Sheriff’s Department. I do understand in discussions with the Sheriff’s Department where that number came from.”
It came from expert opinions solicited by Sheriff Scott Stockton, who contacted veteran Indiana State Police Trooper and dog handler Dennis Wade, who estimated Cain’s value at $2,880-$3,200, and John Holcomb, Cain’s trainer from whom GPD purchased the dog, who valued him at $3,000.
“The considerations were his age, life expectancy for service, etc.,” Stockton told the Council.
More than three years ago, Lee and GPD raised “close to $15,000” for the purchase of Cain, training and equipping a police vehicle.
Council President Cohen worried that the city would have trouble duplicating that fundraising for another K-9.
“That money was raised to put the dog into the city,” Cohen said, “not that the county doesn’t need a dog, but that money was raised for a specific purpose.
“We started the program,” he continued, “because we were told ... it came from the question, ‘What is the best thing we can do to combat drugs in our city?’ At the time the recommendation from the police chief, from Kyle, and from almost all the officers was a dog. Is that still the belief, that the best thing the city can do is to have a K-9 unit on the force?”
“Yes,” Chief Tom Sutherlin quickly responded.
“So if that recommendation is still the best practice, we’re going to have to bring another dog back onto the street,” Cohen reasoned.
“That’s correct,” Sutherlin said. “And the cost for that, if we’re looking at the same trainer who trained Kyle’s dog, we’re looking at $6,500 to get a police officer and a dog trained together.”
Sutherlin said two current GPD officers have expressed interest in becoming K-9 handlers.
Experts recommend that a dog like Cain cannot be retrained to partner with another handler. Not only does Cain work with Lee but is a constant companion, living with the Lee family and essentially with the officer 24/7.
Councilman Fields nonetheless expressed frustration in losing not only an officer but his K-9 partner, asking if there was a way to guarantee that officers stay with the department.
“What Steve’s getting at,” Cohen said, picking up the discussion, “is we lose our investment in another officer and we lose the equipment, and I don’t mean a dog is just equipment.”
Yet as he said that you could hear Officer Lee sigh from across the Council chambers.
“It’s not turning over a gun,” Lee said. “It’s not turning over a car. He’s six years old, and he’s trained for one handler the whole time.
“Bring a master handler in here from anywhere in the country,” Lee suggested, “and he’s going to tell you that’s a bad idea (trying to retrain the dog). It’s not a piece of equipment.”
Lee also reminded city officials that “individuals from all over the county donated to the dog.”
Councilor Langdon, who ultimately abstained because she didn‘t feel the two sides “came up with the right compromise” and didn’t feel good about voting for or against it, suggested the Sheriff’s Department “make it right and give us $6,500, so at least we can go out and replace that dog. That’s why people donated.”
Sheriff Stockton, however, suggested people more likely “donated for the mission, for the war on drugs.”
Cain should be worth more, City Attorney Laurie Hardwick reasoned, because “he’s a very well trained, very valuable dog, which makes it even harder because he is worth more, because it is my understanding, he does a really, really good job.”
Chief Sutherlin agreed.
“You’re not going to find a better dog than Cain,” he said, recommending that with the cost and uncertainty of retraining, however, that the city approve the transfer of Cain to the county.
“When I personally called John Holcomb and asked if $3,000 was a good estimate, he said yes. I asked him about the likelihood of taking Cain and training him with another officer in our agency, and he said, ‘I’ve seen it happen,’ but it’s unlikely that it will happen because of the bond between the dog and the handler, especially since they’ve worked together for three years. It’s unlikely he would bond with another officer from our agency.”
Sutherlin pointed out that such retraining would cost $1,500 without any guarantee it was going to work.
With that recommendation, Councilman Murray made the motion to approve the resolution to transfer Cain to PCSD and Cohen seconded to move the discussion along.
“Based on Tom’s two comments tonight,” Cohen said, “one being we still need a dog. And two, that at best we have a 50-50 likelihood of retraining Cain, what is our best option going forward? Are we giving up on the dog program?”
“I think that’s a budgetary issue,” Murray replied.
Cohen then asked Sutherlin that if the city didn’t replace the dog, what could it do?
“Hire more police officers,” Chief Sutherlin said, suggesting an additional three officers could form the basis of a drug task force that could hit houses where drugs are being supplied and used.
However, the expense of such an undertaking is not presently in the city budget, all agreed. Especially, as Murray pointed out, after the city will see its share of LOIT (local option income tax) drop by $400,000 with Putnam County opting to taking a bigger share of those funds.
“Your recommendation,” Councilor Langdon asked Sutherlin, “is let’s get another dog if we can, but you’re also recommending we accept the $3,000 offer from the county, right?”
“Yes, that’s my recommendation,” the chief said.
Langdon then turned to Stockton with a compromise.
“Can you meet us halfway and help us approve this by giving us more than $3,000 to offset the $6,500?”
“I’ll split it with you -- $3,250,” Stockton offered.
Councilman Hammer, a CPA by trade, said he ran a depreciation formula on the cost of the dog and essentials of the program, saying Cain is valued in that manner at $4,800.
“So if we passed a resolution for $5,000, your answer is no?” Hardwick asked Stockton.
“Yeah, my answer’s no,” the sheriff said. “Like I said before, I’d do $3,250. But that’s it and that’s even more than what the dog handler you bought him from said he was worth.”
Fields asked what would happen to the dog if the Council voted down the resolution.
“Then I would have to find a place to shelter the dog,” Sutherlin said, while also trying to determine whether retraining was a good fit with one of his officers. “But I’ll tell you right now, I have no place to put a dog.”
“Or we pay someone to shelter the dog,” Cohen interjected.
“So we lose no matter what we do here,” Fields surmised.
Councilman Gary Lemon said there were just two choices left for the Council -- accept the $3,250 or not do it, “and then were are we?”
He amended the original motion to alter the payment for the dog from $3,000 to $3,250.”
“It’s unfair to the dog if we say no,” Councilman Fields said. “Then the dog is left without its handler, and it’s mistreated, the way I look at it. The dog’s kind of caught in the middle.”
With that, Lemon called for the question and the final 4-1 with one abstention tally successfully kept the Lee-and-Cain team intact as the duo move to the county.
Both Lee and Stockton pledged to use the dog to assist the city whenever possible. In fact, the resolution calls for Lee to “make all responsible effort” to assist GPD with traffic stops and other matters where drugs are suspected, as well as special events upon the request of the city.