Police Adopt New Vehicle

You will be seeing new police vehicles cruising through town soon.

The department has purchased four new Tahoes.

Police Chief, Don Bohon said patrol officers have expressed their interests in the new wheels, but only one has been assigned.

Ben Garrison, police dog handler’s Tahoe has arrived and is getting its decals put on.

Bohon says this makes things more efficient for K9 unit officers.

" In the past when we had K9s we were in cars," Bohon said. "The entire backseat was the dogs area so if an officer got out and made a traffic stop and happen to find drugs or something, and he went to arrest the driver of the car or someone in the car he would have to call someone to come transport the person, so you end up tying up two cars for one arrest.”

With the Tahoe half of the backseat will be designed for the dog, set up with water and coolers, and the other half will be a prisoner transport seat.

The SUV will also be equipped with a button release door, so getting the dog out of the car will be a push away.

The larger vehicle is also needed for the K9 unit because of the extra equipment that is required.

The department purchased the police dog in late October and he has been training since.

Bohon said it’s hard to have a timeline for when he will begin working because all dogs are different.

For more information on the new police dog click here.