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Thursday, 17 January 2008 10:21

"Rico" Joins the Sherriff's Office

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The Amador County Sheriff's Office is welcoming a new member to the local law enforcement team – 20-month old “Rico” – a Belgian Malenois service dog. Until last year, the Sheriff’s office had three canines on staff, however with the unexpected retirement of two of those service dogs over the past year, the Sheriff's Office was left with only one service dog available for Sheriff's Office duties and for mutual aid requests from the city police departments and CHP. The Sheriff’s 2007/2008 budget did not include money for new service dogs, so the Amador County Deputy Sheriff's Association explored options to purchase a canine which would eventually be assigned to one of its members.

According to Undersheriff Jim Wegner, the association learned it was not uncommon for sheriff’s associations to accept donations for the purchase of a service canine.  Sheriff Martin Ryan approved a request and committed to funding the protection/narcotics training costs for the canine and the assigned Deputy if the association was successful in obtaining funds for the initial purchase. On January 4th, Deputy Sheriff's Association President Gary Stevens presented Sheriff Ryan with a $6500 check to buy Rico.

Rico and his new partner, Deputy Sheriff Ryan Clark, will begin their training later this month and are projected to be patrolling the county by March 2008. Wegner says Rico is expected to provide a safer environment for the deputies and the public they serve. Deputy Stevens credited the support of citizens and local businesses along with the Deputy Sheriff's Association membership for making this possible. Sheriff Ryan said he was deeply appreciative of the Deputy Sheriff's Association and the business community for stepping forward in tough fiscal times to contribute so generously to the safety of the community and law enforcement officers.

Read 1399 times Last modified on Wednesday, 19 August 2009 01:55