EASTON — There’s a new police officer at the Talbot County Sheriff’s Office. She has lots of black fur, a big black nose and a big pink tongue.
K-9 Raven, the county’s new drug detection dog, has completed her rigorous training and has been on the job since July 27.
On her third day, Raven pointed out the presence of marijuana in two separate incidents, helping in two drug arrests.
Sheriff Joe Gamble went to the Talbot County Council in early March during the first round of budget presentations, his first requests being for tools to stem the tide of heroin use among young people in the community.
He asked the county to fund the acquisition of a narcotics-detecting dog, a designated full-time deputy to handle the dog, and the creation of a full-time school resource officer at Easton High School, among others.
Gamble estimated the startup cost for a drug-detecting canine to be about $35,000, with the dog costing between $10,000 to $15,000. Much of the expense is for training and certifications, he said.
Other expenses include kennel costs, outfitting the deputy’s police cruiser to accommodate the dog, veterinary care, food, and other supplies.
But the county did not have to pay that much. As soon as word got out that the sheriff needed a drug-detecting dog, private citizens began calling the sheriff’s office and offering him money.
“That’s how concerned people are about the drug problem,” Gamble said.
Gamble said Allen Bryan Jr. of the Bryan Brothers Foundation, Building Dreams for Youth immediately gave $10,000.
Tom and Maria Mitchell gave $7,000 and a third anonymous donor gave $10,000, according to Gamble.
“So out of the $35,000 I asked for the council, $27,000 came in the first week, of people concerned about the drug problem in Talbot County,” the sheriff said. He said the cost to the county taxpayers ended up being a remaining $7,000.
K-9 Raven comes from K2 Solutions Inc., based in Richmond County, North Carolina.
The company is a civilian canine training facility and a major supplier of military working dogs for the United States armed forces.
It also has become a supplier of trained dogs used in law enforcement and public safety, including bomb dogs, explosives dogs, drug dogs, patrol dogs and tracking dogs, among others.
Raven was pre-trained in narcotics detection, and caught the eye of the Talbot County team that traveled to North Carolina to pick out a dog.
That team included Gamble, Sheriff’s Office Capt. Scott Mergenthaler and retired Maryland State Police dog trainer Chris McCauley. They stayed for two days and reviewed eight dogs total.
Raven is a purebred black Labrador retriever of small stature, and will turn 2 years old next month.
Gamble said they preferred a smaller dog because they are healthier.
“We like them because they don’t have as many hip problems, and bigger dogs don’t live as long,” he said.
Four deputies at the sheriff’s office applied for the job to be Raven’s handler. Deputy 1st Class Joey Timms was selected for the job.