Daleville retires DPS canine officer

A four-legged law officer that joined the Daleville Department of Public Safety in August last year is now officially retired some six months later.

At the Daleville City Council meeting Feb. 1, the council voted to officially retire DPS Canine Officer Bravo at the request of Daleville DPS Chief Allen Medley.

A Belgian Malinois, Bravo the canine cop was unanimously approved as the DPS’s newest officer at the Daleville City Council meeting Aug. 17, 2021 after Medley had told the council at a work session the day before that the Slocomb Police Department had offered the Daleville DPS the opportunity to purchase the certified K-9 officer and his truck for $25,000.

Bravo’s previous handler had worked with him for about a year but had recently transferred to another department, Medley said, explaining the package deal for the certified drug dog who reportedly could serve as a patrol and tracking dog.

The vehicle offered with Bravo was a fully equipped patrol vehicle with 130,000 miles, Medley said. “All we have to do is put stripes and identification as a K-9 vehicle on it.”

The department already had a radio that was be installed in the vehicle. “Radio’s cost about $600 but we already have a radio for the vehicle,” Medley said.

Medley told the council that his estimate to get an equipped law enforcement vehicle and a certified dog would exceed $50,000. “Working with Slocomb, I know that all their vehicles are being well maintained and serviced,” he said. “This could jump start our canine officer program.”

At the August council work session, Medley said that the K-9 handler would be DPS Lt. Daniel Przybylski. “Dothan (Police Department) has already offered to train Danny for free and offered to work with the dog.”

At the Daleville City Council work session Jan. 31 Medley introduced Dothan Police Department Canine Trainer/Canine Commander Lt. William Wozniak who outlined for the council the training that his department provides to area law enforcement agencies at no cost to them. “Our agency runs multiple handler courses, we do all of the training for our dogs in-house,” Wozniak said. “We put our dogs through an intensive eight-week program handlers course and provide continuous training from that point on.”

Wozniak said he had been contacted by Przybylski in September 2021 about Bravo. “There were things that I could see at that point,” Wozniak said about initially working with Bravo. “When I first saw Bravo, he knew what he was looking for but the end result wasn’t there. Whoever taught him taught him what he was looking for but didn’t teach him what to do when he got there.”

“If Danny (Przybylski) wasn’t always on the right hand side of Bravo when he found drugs, he wouldn’t sit,” Wozniak added. “And that causes issues. Drugs are going to be the biggest thing you get here. The last thing you want is for there to be (legal) questions about your dog.”

Wozniak told the council that he knows of a two-year-old Hungarian-born Belgian Malois and German Shepard-mix narcotics, tracking and apprehension dog in Texas available for $8,500 as opposed to the usual price of between $11,000 and $15,000 for a dog.

Medley said that in his request for a new dog, he expects to use the budget already in place with some funding from the recent class action settlement agreement of a lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies. “We’re not asking for money,” he told the council.

Medley called Bravo “a very good dog, very well mannered, very well behaved,” but added that the request to retire Bravo is because he is not able to work effectively as a narcotics and tracking dog. “Danny has done one heck of a job with Bravo. Unfortunately, Bravo didn’t have proper training. We tried everything that we could if we could fix Bravo and make it work and unfortunately we just couldn’t.”

“I think we are getting the proverbial horse before the cart,” Councilwoman Jo Reese told the police officers. “Y’all are starting with the premise that we need a canine unit. We do not necessarily need a canine unit.

“Bravo has cost us additional expenses, money that could have been spent on officers and things that police need,” Reese said, citing medical expenses incurred when Bravo required 28 stitches after running up under a parade float.

“When (Bravo) was presented to us, it was as a fully trained search, take down and seek out drug dog. The car that went with him was presented as fully equipped and as I understand it there are major problems with that car,” Reese told Medley. “We, as a council, relied upon information given to us by the police that this was in fact a good, great purchase for Daleville. It has been nothing of the sort.

“I am not of the opinion that we need a canine unit and I am not about to subject this city to taking on a second police dog no matter how well trained he or she may or may not be,” Reese said. “Y’all are starting with the premise that we need a replacement (canine). We didn’t need the first one.

“We have one dud, now we are trying to take on another dog?” Reese asked. “You say this is a great deal? I am not of the opinion that we need a canine unit. You can ‘great deal’ yourself into bankruptcy. You can get so many ‘great deals’ that you can go broke. This city doesn’t need to be broke.

“When we purchased Bravo and the car, we purchased it on representation made to the council that it was a valid, well thought out, researched, looked-into situation—none of which was correct,” Reese said. “It cost the city $25,000 up front and we have amended out budget—which is already tight—and now we have an additional $2,200 in medical bills for that dog which was such a ‘great deal.’ I am opposed to going down that rabbit hole any further.”

Reese said that the police car that was purchased with Bravo turned out to be in bad repair. “Unfortunately, the motor had some issues,” Medley said.

“The vehicle wasn’t even checked out by a mechanic before it came to the council (for a vote),” Reese said. “It was on the word of Slocomb that it was good. Did you have the dog checked out to see if was properly trained? No. But you presented him to us and the car to us as though they both were great and we relied upon you—to our detriment.”

At the council voting meeting Feb. 1, Reese made the motion that Bravo be retired and properly placed with the appropriate documents approved by the city attorney. The motion was approved after being seconded by Councilman Kevin Turley.

Reese also made the motion to table the purchase of a replacement canine until more information can be obtained and discussed by the council. Councilwoman Katheryne Horace seconded the motion which passed by majority. Reese, Horace, Souders and Daleville Mayor Jayme Stayton voted for the motion. Turley and Councilman Jimmy Monk voted against.

The next meeting of the Daleville City Council is Feb. 15 at 5:30 p.m. in the council chambers at Daleville City Hall. The meeting is open to the public.