PLYMOUTH – The Plymouth Township Police Department has announced a new addition to its K-9 unit – Fox, a 2 1/2 year old German Shepherd named in honor of fallen Plymouth Officer Brad Fox.
‘We just picked him up this last week,’ Plymouth Police Chief Joe Lawrence said. K-9 Fox was imported from the Czech Republic and picked up on Aug. 16.
The price of a trained K-9 officer is normally close to $8,000, but the price of K-9 Fox was covered through a Homeland Security Grant. Lawerence said the training of a K-9 officer usually costs an additional $15,000; part of K-9 Fox’s training costs will be covered through the grant, the rest has been covered by a $20,000 donation given to the police department from Concelli Toyota.
‘Now I only have to pay the cost of room and board for the officer and his salary,’ Lawrence said.
Fox and his handler, Plymouth police officer Jonathan Monaghan, will be training at Castle’s K9 in Mechanicsburg, Pa. for 14 weeks before Monaghan is certified to handle K-9 Fox.
Once Monaghan and K-9 Fox complete 14 weeks of training, they will be ready to take to the streets as Plymouth’s newest K-9 Unit.
The Plymouth K-9 unit began in 1990 with two dogs and expanded to four dogs in 1992, along with a kennel that can hold up to six dogs. The Plymouth Police department will be looking to get another K-9 officer in early 2014, because K-9 Judo, a German shepherd, is set to retire early 2014.
