“A K-9 program really, is something we have to try to think outside of the box for to get funding in our organization.”
A tight budget is helping to make crowdfunding that “outside the box” idea for the Kent County Sheriff’s Department. Adding canines to the program is desired says Undersheriff Michelle LaJoy-Young, with their current economic environment, she says they can only do the basics. She adds community input helped the crowd funding idea move forward.
“We were often hearing about K-9 and how they were interested in us having more K9 programs available so it kind of came from that. If the community is interested in us having that, then the community may be interested in assisting us getting it. And we gotten a lot of positive feedback from it so I think that’s true.”
The K-9 unit, says Undersheriff LaJoy-Young, is critical… especially in the area of narcotics.
“We need to do everything possible to keep narcotics from getting into the walls of the corrections department, because obviously that poses a risk, a health risk for everyone involved but it can also be a security risk.”
Undersheriff LaJoy-Young adds law enforcement searches are almost equally as important. She says they currently have 3 canines, though technically one is an arson dog. So that leaves them with two. Ideally they need 8 more, but she says they can add them as the funds come in. The price tag runs from 8 to 12-grand per dog. So ideally, they need to raise about 100-thousand dollars or more. You can find the donation page at accesskent.com/sheriff.
