K9 unit a go in Twin Lakes

Village board approves purchase Monday

By Jason Arndt
Editor

When Lt. Joe Patla of the Twin Lakes Police Department campaigned for a K9 unit in June, one obstacle stood in the way, funding the unit through private donations.

Via villageoftwinlakes.net

Since then, Twin Lakes police raised enough funds, which led to a 6-0 approval at Monday’s regular meeting.
At the meeting, Village Administrator Jennifer Frederick said funds already donated and this week’s golf fundraiser will likely exceed the $14,000 startup cost.

“We think we could meet that this week,” she said. “In addition to that, however, we do have a private donation that includes funding the entire squad.”

Police Chief Adam Grosz said his department has raised about $9,000 before this week’s golf fundraiser at Hawk’s View Golf Course in Lake Geneva.

Courtesy of Mary Brennan, a local realtor, she stepped in to offer $17,500 to cover the costs for a vehicle fully equipped with a cage, a heat detection system, an automatic door opener for the dog and a camera.
The vehicle, which comes used from Spring Grove, Ill., saved the village about $28,000 from the original estimate.

Brennan, in attendance at the meeting, said the donation is contingent on the village committing to the K9 for at least five years.

Her donation achieves a personal goal of contributing to the community.

“It is the right thing to do, I live here and make a living here and have a business here, so I really wanted to do that,” said Brennan.

After the meeting, Brennan said “it’s a great addition to our community.”

The village plans to purchase the dog from Steinig Tal Kennel LLC, of Campbellsport, Wis., where it will receive about four weeks of training.

“If everything goes as planned, then the dog will be on patrol before Halloween,” Patla said after the meeting.
In Patla’s initial pitch at the June Committee of the Whole meeting, he lobbied for the K9 unit to combat heroin and narcotic use within the Village of Twin Lakes.

At the June meeting, Patla said 19 fatal narcotic overdoses happened in the village, 17 of which came from opiate use from 2011 until 2014.

With a K9 unit, a dog can reduce the burden of police officers, including detection of odors from illegal drugs, including heroin, cocaine, meth, marijuana and opioid pills. While the dog’s primary mission to cut crime is through the use of its nose, Patla outlined other benefits to community, some involving area schools.

For health monitoring, a local veterinarian plans to donate services.

A police dog serves for about eight years, and when a dog retires, the village receives up to $25,000 from an insurance provider to find a replacement.


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One response to “K9 unit a go in Twin Lakes”

  1. Jim Torstenson Avatar
    Jim Torstenson

    Thank you Mary Brennan. You are awesome.