It’s been three years since a La Palma PD K9 patrolled the city streets. 2012 was when the department’s K9 program was eliminated due to budgetary and staffing constraints.
But the City is now considering reinstating the program.
A discussion was had on the topic in the City Council Chambers on October 15.
The La Palma PD K9 program was first adopted in 1985, and in the years between that and 2012 when the program ceased, the PD had five dogs over the years.
Since La Palma’s K9 program has been absent, as they have needed a K9, they have been able to request that a K9 and handler from a surrounding city come assist at no cost. But Police Chief Terry Kim pointed out that La Palma is in the minority in Orange County by not having their own dogs. Only Seal Beach and Los Alamitos have that in common with them.
Chief Kim gave a brief presentation on the value that K9s bring to a police department, saying a K9 team completes searches much faster and much more accurately than just officers alone, and said that it would be a definite case of “man hours saved.” He also said that during a search, when an announcement is made that a dog is being sent in, a suspect is much more likely to surrender quickly and peacefully.
He also said in addition to tracking down suspects, K9s can be cross-trained to detect drugs, which La Palma’s K9s historically have been.
The department also used to have a K9 vehicle when they had K9s, but the vehicle was eliminated from the fleet when it was no longer needed.
But is a K9 program something the city needs? When all was said and done, Chief Kim’s conclusion was that it would be “nice to have, but is not a must-have at this time.”
It would come at a cost of $92,000 to the city on the front end in the first year, then about $46,000 per year on an ongoing basis.
City staff did say that the way the city’s finances look now, the city could absorb the costs and still have a small surplus. However that would be if there were no other changes to the budget. “It does get tight,” said Administrative Services Director Sea Shelton.
The City Council expressed tempered support of bringing back the K9 program, but city staff said it likely would not be realistic until Fiscal Year 2021. There are currently two vacancies in the police department that must be filled so the department is fully staffed before an officer could be designated as a handler, and taken away from work for the lengthy training process.
City Manager Laurie Murray said the city has been actively recruiting to fill the two vacancies.
Chief Kim said that obtaining a dog and a vehicle would not take long, but that there would then be about a seven-week long training before the team could begin working.
But in the end, it was decided that city staff would do a bit more research and bring back a deeper analysis for further consideration at one of the November City Council Meetings.