It’s been years since the Minocqua Police Department had a K9 team. That could change if the town board agrees to a request by its officers for a police dog.
Police Chief David Jaeger and his officers made the pitch Tuesday. Although officers said there would be no cost to the taxpayers, supervisors aren’t totally on board. They fear that future costs could come back to taxpayers.
To buy the dog and train it would cost about $20,500. A separate squad car for the K9 team would cost $60,000. Officer Matt Nate said he’s confident they would raise the full amount through donations.
Town Chair Mark Hartzheim worried about the required 16 hours of monthly training for the K9 team. Officer Nate said the dog handler would respond to any calls during training.
Officer Nate said the dog would not only be used for drug sniffing, but also to locate suspects fleeing a scene. Chief Jaeger explains a related benefit of a K9...
“We do have a lot of missing persons in the area. This dog could be utilized to track those types of people, bring them back to safety. Being a vacation community, people go out in the woods and they get lost. We also have an aging community with individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia and they do tend at times to get lost.”
There is some board support for the K9 team, but supervisors held off a decision until their next meeting.
