August 28, 2024 |
Photo – SPD patch logo – Bigfoot99 file photo
The Saratoga town council votes to delay hiring a new drug sniffing dog until the contract can be reviewed.
Last year, the Saratoga Police K-9 Officer tragically ended his own life. Since that time, the Saratoga Police Department has been without a police dog.
In March, the Saratoga town council voted to hire to two new police officers: Deputy Casey Lehr and Lieutenant John Moore. Deputy Lehr was a certified K-9 handler with the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office. At the time, Police Chief Mike Morris informed the governing body that he would like to eventually use Lehr’s training to obtain a new police dog for Saratoga.
During the August 20th Saratoga town council meeting, Chief Morris presented a K-9 lease agreement between the town and Officer Lehr. The police chief explained that Lehr purchased and paid for the training of a police dog on his own.
Chief Morris said the K-9 lease agreement will reimburse Officer Lehr for the care and maintenance of his two-year-old police dog. Like Officer Casner before him, Lehr will be given one additional hour of pay every day.
In total, the town would pay Officer Lehr $9,168.90 a year to care for his police dog.
Chief Morris said the new K-9 lease agreement is nearly identical to what the town had with Officer Casner. The police chief said the new contract was reviewed and approved by former Town Attorney Patrick Brady, who wrote the previous contract.
If the agreement is accepted, Chief Morris said Officer Lehr’s dog will be ready for service within 60 to 90 days.
Councilman Jerry Fluty asked who is legally responsible, under the terms of the contract, for police dog.
Chief Morris said like a typical lease agreement, the town is responsible for the actions of the K-9 unit.
Chief Morris said the police dog is currently only certified to detect drugs, but could be trained to perform additional duties in the future. Mayor Chuck Davis told the police chief that he’ll need to seek the council’s permission before changing the terms of the agreement.
Councilwoman Kathy Beck asked how far along Officer Lehr’s dog was in the training process. Chief Morris said the dog is undergoing retraining since arriving in Wyoming. The police chief reiterated that the K-9 lease agreement states that Officer Lehr, not the town, is responsible for the dog’s training expenses.
Councilman Fluty motioned to table the K-9 lease agreement. However, Councilwoman Beck motioned to accept the lease agreement as it is written.
Mayor Davis asked for a second to Councilman Fluty’s motion to delay voting on the contract. Councilman Bub Barkhurst seconded, saying that he wanted to personally review the contract before signing.
Mayor Davis called for a vote to table the contract until more research is done. The motion passed with Councilwoman Beck casting the sole dissenting vote. The contract signing was delayed until the following Saratoga town council meeting on September 3rd.
