Sedgwick County Fire seeks ATF explosives-detection canine; annual operating cost cited as $2,500

Sedgwick County Fire Chief Doug Williams asked the commission to start a new agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) to accept an explosives- and fire-investigation canine that would replace the department's current dog, Benny, when he retires next year.

Williams said Sedgwick County was one of eight U.S. agencies offered a dog in the ATF's recent class and that the county would be the only agency in the region to receive one. "We're 1 of 8 in The United States," Williams said, noting the ATF provides the dog, training and the canine equipment.

Williams gave a projected annual operating cost: "the cost the annual cost projection to have the dog is $2,500 a year." He said that sum covers per diem, food and travel for handler training; ATF covers the dog, housing and training during the six-week course the transcript references. Williams asked the commission to authorize the county to sign the contract, described as a continuation of the department's prior agreement when Benny joined the program.

Lieutenant Rusty Volentine, the proposed handler, described his experience with ATF canines: "I've handled 3 of their canines." He said the dog is a 24/7 county asset but also a regional resource that the ATF can dispatch nationwide, and that in roughly seven months of service last year the county deployed the canine about 15 times to cases including homicide and firefighter-fatality investigations. "They're used in high intensity scenes or everyday scenes, but they're very important when it comes to potentially set fires or fires where there's fatalities or injuries," Volentine said.

The request also included a separate, noncash charitable donation: a landowner has offered a house for live training evolutions for up to two years, with the county to ultimately burn the structure under the agreement. Williams said legal reviewed the donation paperwork and the department worked to correct property descriptions.

The commission was asked to place the ATF-canine agreement on the fire agenda for formal consideration; no formal vote is recorded in the agenda-review transcript.