Daleville Council OKs police K-9 purchase

A new K-9 law officer will join the ranks of the Daleville Department of Public Safety.

At the Daleville City Council meeting Feb, 15, the council voted by majority to approve the purchase of Rocky, a four-legged law officer. Councilwoman Jo Reese voted against the purchase. A decision had been tabled at a previous council meeting until councilmembers could study information presented to them by Daleville DPS Capt. Allen Hendrickson at a special called council work session to discuss the issue Feb. 14. 

Authorizing Rocky’s purchase comes on the heels of a council decision Feb. 1 to officially retire DPS Canine Officer Bravo at the request of Daleville DPS Chief Allen Medley.

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. He said they conduct multiple handler courses in addition to doing all the training of the Dothan canines in-house. “We put our dogs through an intensive eight-week program handlers course and provide continuous training from that point on,” he told the council.

Wozniak told the council Jan. 31 that he had assessed Bravo’s ability as a canine officer after working with him and concurred with Medley’s recommendation to retire the canine that the Daleville DPS had purchased from the Slocomb Police Department Aug. 17, 2021.

At the Jan. 31 meeting, Wozniak told the council about Rocky, a two-year-old Hungarian born Belgian Malois and German Shepherd-mix narcotics, tracking and apprehension dog available for $8,500 as opposed to the usual price of between $11,000 and $15,000.

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

At the meeting Feb. 15, Horace and Reese thanked Medley for the more detailed information that had been provided to them to study at a work session Feb. 14. “I have a greater understanding of what is taking place and why it is taking place and I wanted to say that publicly,” Horace said. Reese agreed. “I appreciate the time (Medley and Hendrickson) put into it. All of us learned a lot through the process. You are to be applauded for that.”

The council approved the motion made by Councilman Jimmy Monk and seconded by Councilman Alan Souders to purchase Rocky.

The next meeting of the Daleville City Council is Tuesday, March 1 at 5:30 p.m. in the Daleville City Council Hall Council Chambers. The meeting is open to the public.