Genoa Police Department looking to bring back K-9 unit

GENOA – Sgt. Robert Smith drives a K-9-equipped squad car with stickers on the windows that indicate a K-9 is coming in 2012.

He doesn't have a police dog to accompany him yet, but he's hoping the community once again will help raise money to reactivate a successful K-9 program that ended last year.

For a little more than four years, the Genoa Police Department had the help of Frank – a Czechoslovakian shepherd trained as a police dog.

A few years ago, the community raised close to $30,000 to add Frank to the force. After four years of sniffing out drugs, helping locate missing people and even assisting with a bank robbery, Frank's handler took a new job, which meant Frank had to leave the force, too.

In spring 2010, budget constraints forced city officials to lay off officer Tim Hoffstead, who was Frank's sole handler. By the time Hoffstead had been offered his job back with the department, he had accepted a job elsewhere, said Genoa Police Chief Ty Lynch.

When Hoffstead left the force, Smith said Frank was only a few years away from retirement. Retraining Frank with a new handler, then turning around and training a new dog once Frank retired, would not be as cost-effective as purchasing a new dog, Smith said.

Frank left the force in November, and his sharp nose has been sorely missed, officers said. The department started a fundraising campaign about 1½ months ago after Smith offered to become a handler and adopt the dog so the force could once again have a K-9 unit.

"I thought it was kind of interesting the way the dog worked. I never thought there'd be an opportunity where I'd be able to get a dog," Smith said. "I didn't want to see the program go away, so I brought it up."

Smith has been with the department for 16 years, and he doesn't have plans to leave the force anytime soon.

"Chances of Sgt. Smith quitting this job to go to another job are very slim, which is one of the barriers we're seeing," Lynch said.

The department already has raised a little more than $1,000 toward an $8,000 goal. The startup costs are lower this time because the department already owns expensive equipment such as a K-9 squad car.

"We like the idea of a community-sponsored K-9, and the reason for that is that the community gets behind it, the community supports the program," Lynch said. "The community has ownership of the dog, and it seems to be better received by the community if they're the ones raising money."

Scott Siers of Genoa is doing his part to keep the ongoing expenses lower by donating all of the dog food the K-9 needs during its time on the force. Siers, manager at Siers Feed & Pet Supply in Elgin, donated all of Frank's food, too, and helps support the K-9 program in Kane County.

He said police dogs provide many outreach opportunities and are a good conversation piece between officers and the community.

"The initial cost of the dog is next to nothing," Siers said. "They work all hours, they protect officers. They more than make it up for what they do for the community."

Other than assisting surrounding police departments and raising drug awareness in schools, Frank searched more than 300 vehicles and seized drugs that passed through Genoa. Lynch said just having a K-9 was enough of a deterrent for people transporting drugs between Rockford and Aurora to stay out of Genoa altogether.

Smith said depending on its health, a K-9 can serve the community for eight to nine years. He said training as a handler could take as long as 10 weeks, and he's hoping to raise enough money to purchase a new dog by the end of this year.

For police dog supporters, K-9 programs are worth every penny.

"I think a K-9 unit makes your community safer," Siers said. "They get narcotics off the streets, bottom line. It keeps the public safer."

How to help

Donate by purchasing $2 and $5 paper paws through "Paws for a Cause" fundraiser at the Genoa Police Department and area businesses. Donations also can be made by sending checks to the Genoa Police Department K-9 program, 333 E. First St., Genoa, IL 60135.

Also, visit the Facebook page by searching "Genoa K-9 Unit." Donations are tax deductible.
Call 815-784-6633 for more information.