Lakeway City Council gave a conditional approval for the city's first police canine unit after hearing Police Chief Todd Radford's presentation at the April 15 meeting.
Radford first pitched the idea to council members in July. At that time, questions of funding and implementation of the project halted its progress. Since then, officer Sam Smith, who once served in the Coast Guard, donated his G.I. Bill benefits in the amount of $12,500 to fund the program.
"Law enforcement is my career," said Smith, who has been with the Lakeway Police Department for the past 21 months and served with the Bee Cave Police Department for more than two years prior. "To me, it's a stepping stone in the direction I want to go, so I used my benefits for this opportunity."
Smith and Radford coordinated plans for a veterinarian to provide medical care for the dog during the program's first year, and a local vendor stepped up to donate a year's worth of dog food—efforts that made the difference in City Council's support of the project.
Radford will use an existing vehicle owned by the department for the canine unit. The Lakeway Police Foundation is adding money to the program, and the police department's budget can cover the remaining costs.
"I was honored by the fact that Sam had served his country and was willing to use his benefits to the start the program," Radford said.
Radford estimated that the new canine unit can begin local work—tracking criminals, finding lost children, locating drugs—by the end of September. The dog will accompany the officer on all stops as well.
Smith has already been accepted into a canine officer training program outside San Antonio, but the school made his acceptance contingent on Lakeway being aware of the possibility of recurring annual expenses.
Council members were not required to vote on approving the program since Radford was not requesting program funding under the current budget. However, council voiced concern over what funding would be needed to continue the program past the first year, an issue that will come into play in as Lakeway's 2014 budget is discussed.
"Even though he wasn't asking for anything, he was really obligating us for the future," Lakeway Mayor Dave DeOme said. "But the City Council was willing to listen to [the presentation] and will vote on funding the program next year."
Radford said he hopes revenue from the auction of seizure property obtained in investigations involving the canine unit would pay for the program and possibly its expansion from an initial single dog to multiple dogs.
