The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is buying safety equipment in anticipation of the arrival of a new K-9.
On Monday, the Bartholomew County Commissioners approved the purchase of a K-9 vehicle insert and a temperature alarm and door-opening system to ensure the new furry officer has a safe place to ride in a squad car and does not get too hot.
The insert is made by Kentucky-based Elite K-9 Inc. and costs $2,199.95, while the alarm and door system, also known as the “Hot-N-Pop,” is made by Florida-based AceK9 and costs $1,299, Capt. Brandon Slate of the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department told the county commissioners on Monday.
The insert will take up the entire backseat of a Dodge Charger patrol car, Slate said. The rear seats will be removed to make room for the insert.
“It’s the metal insert that goes into the vehicle,” Slate said. “It’s like taking a kennel for a dog and shrinking it down to a size that will fit inside the vehicle. It’s got padding and creates a safe place for the dog to ride around in the vehicle.”
The Hot-N-Pop, for its part, includes several temperature sensors that trigger cooling mechanisms inside the vehicle if the temperature inside the car gets too hot for the dog, including automatically rolling down the rear windows, turning on the air conditioning, honking the car’s horn or turning on the police lights to alert the K-9 handler.
“What it does is those sensors will detect how hot the car gets,” Slate said. “There are different thresholds (depending on the temperature). It may just roll the back windows down half way or kick the fans or (air conditioning) up or honk the horn.”
Additionally, the K-9 handler will have a wireless remote that can be used open the rear doors of the patrol car so the dog can exit the vehicle. The door-popping feature cannot be activated when the car is in gear, according to AceK9’s website.
“Most K-9 handlers across the state use something similar to this,” Slate said.
Currently, the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department has two K-9s and the department expects the third to arrive by the end of August.
