State Rep. Brian Johnson, a Republican who represents Cambridge, shared his sentiments Tuesday night during a legislative session.
Can you tell me how much money is in this bill to help defer the cost to our counties and police departments for the cost of the retirement of the dogs and the replacements? Johnson said.
He added that he "did not see anything reading though the bill dealing with our K-9 units."
Rep. Zack Stephenson, a Democrat who drafted the bill, said there will be "considerable appropriations to local units of government in multiple different areas."
The bill, which would make non-medical pot legal for people 21 and older, passed on a 71-59 vote. Johnson voted against it.
It has now been referred to the Finance Committee.
In recent years, several states that have legalized recreational marijuana have seen police departments retiring their working K-9s prematurely. Many have had to purchase and train new dogs to detect illegal drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl.
The Associated Press reported that "dogs trained on multiple drugs alert in the same way for all of them, so it’s impossible to tell whether they are indicating the presence of marijuana or an illicit drug. The dogs also cannot distinguish between a small, legal amount of marijuana or a larger, still-illegal amount of the drug. For police, that means they can no longer be used to establish probable cause for a search."
Meanwhile, some departments have been forced to disband their K-9 units because they can't afford new dogs.
Aside from detecting drugs, police dogs are typically used to help departments track down and subdue suspects, find missing people, as well as detect bombs, computers, and phones.
A dog’s sense of smell is 50 times more sensitive than a human’s, making them far superior to any other method of tracking and detection," according to the police website, Police1. "The very presence of a police K-9 can act as a deterrent to any further escalation of physical violence or resistance from a suspect.
Police1 notes that K-9s cost about $8,000 each. Departments often recruit German shepherds, Dutch shepherds, Belgian Malinois, Labrador retrievers, Doberman pinschers, beagles and bloodhounds.
Plus, training a police K-9 often costs between $12,000 to $15,000, along with outfitting police cruisers to accommodate the dogs. The K-9s tend to live with their handlers, and their respective departments tend to help with veterinary and medical bills.
Some departments have resorted to fundraising and applying for grants to obtain and train K-9s.
When K-9s retire, they usually continue to live with their handlers.
More recently, some department have introduced comfort and/or therapy dogs. In some cases, they are referred to as wellness dogs.
In Rhode Island, the first comfort dog was Cali, an an Australian Labradoodle who helps detectives in the Cranston Police Department's Special Victims Unit. The dog stays with victims of sexual and physical abuse as detectives interview them, as well as during medical examinations. Cali also frequency visits schools and community events.