The Sarnia Police Service will welcome a new Police Service Dog and Canine Officer.
During a special virtual meeting on Friday, April 25 the Sarnia Police Service Board (SPSB) approved a second K9 team.
Currently, the police service has one team that was introduced in April 2024 and has been operational since August 2024.
The new dog and handler will attend a 15-week training program at the Windsor Police Service (WPS) in the fall.
Deputy Chief Michael Van Sickle said over the past year the police service has learned the impact the team has on the person, and only Cst. Shawn Urban can handle Police Service Dog (PSD) Vader.
"We did a quick analysis recently about the amount of times that Shawn's been called and it's about 40 per cent of the call outs roughly that he's coming in while not on duty," Van Sickle said. "What we're looking to do is to be able to mitigate that factor and in the grand scheme of things yes, it is the overtime money that is the concern but also the person."
In March, Cst. Urban reported the team responded to over 70 calls in eight months.
Board Member Anne Marie Gillis said it's amazing how having the canine unit has effected the service.
"Looking at a $30,000 investment to bring in another canine to the unit and a trainer on top of that then one can assume the return of the investment is going to offset the cost," she said. "You might be able to have a much more efficient budget then we've had in the past because we have another way of delivering the service."
When police first implement the K9 Unit, two vehicles were purchased and outfitted for the team in 2024.
Van Sickle said adding a second dog would make the unit more sustainable.
"In the event one of those vehicles go out of service they're simply going to share one vehicle, so whoever is on duty during that period of time will have access to the car, the dog will remain in the kennel and can't be transported," he said.
The cost to run a second team is estimated at $30,for the dog and training, and associated costs would come out of the existing 2025 operational budget.
If extra staff is needed, it would be discussed during 2026 budget deliberations.
Gillis spoke highly about adding a second canine.
"This is, in my way of thinking, being very proactive in a very cost-effective way and I do believe we will get a really good return on this investment like we have seen with Vader," she said.
Training the new dog would start in August with deployment by December.