New county K-9 program to focus on narcotics detection

Two canine officers will join the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office this summer, thanks to support and donations from the community for the new Flathead County Sheriff K-9 fund.

According to Sheriff Brian Heino, the campaign to raise money to purchase two narcotics detection dogs for the department reached its first goal of $5,000 within 24 hours of posting it on Wednesday.

Heino said he initially planned to raise the money for the dogs and equipment in stages over time, but having witnessed the outpouring of generosity from the community, he said he’s now put forward the total $15,000 goal in hopes of raising the entire amount at once.

For two dogs and all the equipment to outfit them, the department estimates a cost at around $20,000 to $25,000 per dog.

In the last week and a half, the community already has responded with around $20,000, as of Friday morning.

“It’s kind of been exciting,” Heino said. “The community reached out to us and told us this is something they support.”

Heino began sharing his vision for a K-9 unit after the primary election last June.

His election in November launched the effort to make that goal a reality.

“We’re trying to complete the package for our community,” Heino said, referring to other K-9’s in use by other agencies across the valley.

The sheriff’s K-9s will serve two primary purposes—narcotics interdiction and community outreach.

Dogs on duty will respond with their handlers to suspected drug calls and cases to search and identify narcotics in various situations. Based on current call volumes and suspicious incidences deputies encounter, the dogs’ drug-detection capabilities likely will be put to use on a nightly basis.

When they aren’t responding to drug calls, the dogs will participate in demonstrations and interactions within the community, including visits to schools across the county.

Permission from school administrators will also allow deputies to use the dogs to conduct searches of classrooms and lockers to intercept drugs from the county’s schools.

The ability to interact with the dogs, Heino said, will also play a large part in the department’s relationship with the public.

“The community interaction automatically occurs,” Heino said. “If somebody has a dog, especially a law enforcement officer, there’s an attraction to that dog.”

The department has chosen to recruit two Labrador retrievers, a more approachable breed than the German shepherds or Belgian malinois commonly used by police.

In deciding what type of dogs to purchase, Heino and his deputies drew feedback from Kalispell Police K-9 Officer Jason Parce, who’s spent the last year and a half working with his Belgian malanois, Cairo. They also spoke with military veterans with experience using Labradors in various searches.

Heino said Labradors tend to be work-driven, with a strong desire to please their handlers, making them the perfect dog for drug detection and community relations.

According to Heino, deputies Matt Vander Ark and Charles Pesola have led the charge in drumming up support for the program through the Flathead Community Foundation and the Flathead County Sheriff’s K-9 Gofundme page.

Vander Ark said in his experience with drug enforcement officers across the valley, he’s met several who are great at their jobs, but none who can smell as well as a dog.

“Dogs smell 10,000 times better than a human does,” Vander Ark said. “They can find the needle in the hay stack.”

When Heino began rolling out his goals for the department under his administration, Vander Ark and Pesola took it upon themselves to begin raising funds for the K-9 program.

“The support we got was almost overwhelming,” Vander Ark said.

Based on what the department has raised so far, Vander Ark said they’re looking at around $18,000 to $20,000 more to fully fund the new K-9 unit.

The department has set a conservative goal of $15,000 on its Gofundme page.

Heino said the department plans to purchase the dogs and begin training with their designated handlers in June, with a goal to get them on the streets by July. He has posted the position for the K-9 handlers and will be selecting the best deputies for the job within the coming week.

The next step will be to order the dogs from Makor K-9 in Napa, California.

“People are excited about us getting puppies, excited about the direction the office is moving in battling narcotics,” Vander Ark said.

To donate to the Flathead County Sheriff’s K-9 fund, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/flathead-county-sheriff-k9.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.