For Background: http://www.examiner.com/x-21299-Atlantic-City-City-Hall-Examiner~y2009m8d31-Atlantic-City-K9-Units-putting-on-the-dog-at-county-exhibition

I have been following this story for a few weeks, and it is time to comment. The Mayor of Atlantic City NJ has reacted to citizen complaints by pulling all the patrol dogs off the road during which time the K9 unit is audiuted. The Chief of police is threatening to sue the city to return the K9s to active status. I hope he does just that.

Tarheel Canine has supplied numerous dogs to the AC K9 Academy, and I have always seen professional work by the trainers and all the officers attending the academy. They select top quality and very social dogs for training. I have to say I cannot believe that the Mayor has removed all the K9 patrol units, not just the ones against which complaints may have been registered. This is clearly some kind of political move to appeal to a particular constituency.

The AC K9s are well trained and extremely productive, and the trainers there oversee training for numerous agencies across NJ and surrounding states. Mayor Langford is jeapordizing the safety of the AC K9 officers (building searches and other high risk situations now have to be conducted without K9s who can do so more quickly and efficiently without risking officers lives to the degree that they are in a dogless environment of visually searching), and as such, this political move on the part of this mayor is bordering on the criminal. The major is further endangering the public, as fleeing suspects who otherwise could have been apprehended ONLY by a tracking dog, will escape to further perpetrate crimes on the public.

It is a shame that the mayor of the city doesn’t have the nerve to back up his own people, who put themselves in harm’s way so the rest of us can sleep peacefully at night. Shame on Mayor Langford. one can only hope that providence is with the officers of ACPD and nobody is harmed in the name of politics by this foolish and negligent action. Dogs are the #1 locating device for police to use against fleeing and possibly hidden felony suspects who have no compunction about harming them.