New nonprofit seeks to support K9 program for Lakeport Police Department
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Police Department is partnering with a newly forming nonprofit whose goal is to create a police dog program for the agency.
Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen updated the council on the effort at its Aug. 21 meeting. The discussion begins just after the 1:08:00 mark in the video above.
“It’s been a goal of mine for some time to get another police dog for the agency,” Rasmussen said.
The department has had K9s in the past, but not for several years.
Lakeport Police’s last K9, Max, a Belgian Malinois born in Holland in 2000, retired in May 2009.
Rasmussen said his department is now partnering with a new nonprofit, “Friends of Lakeport PD,” which is being formed by David Brown, owner of Susie Q’s Donuts in Lakeport.
The new nonprofit’s goal is not just to start the police dog program but also to assist the department with other equipment needs and programs in the community, according to Rasmussen’s written report to the council.
He asked for council consensus to provide direction to the mayor to appoint one council member to sit on the nonprofit’s board of directors.
Rasmussen said no public funds will be given to the foundation; rather, the foundation intends to give the city money to fund the K9 program.
It was explained during the meeting that Brown is in the process of submitting the nonprofit foundation status application and is working on bylaws and board member selections.
Brown was on hand to speak the council about his plans for the group and asking for a council member to join the board.
Rasmussen said he had wanted to find officers in his department interested in working with the K9, a position that he said he’ll require to have an added level of commitment and responsibility.
He said three officers came forward, and all of them were in attendance that night: Andrew Welter, Tyler Trouette and Kaylene Strugnell.
“We definitely made sure that we had a commitment before we go out and actually start trying to raise funds within the community,” said Rasmussen.
Mayor Mireya Turner told Brown that the council members would probably be fighting over who would get to sit on the foundation board.
“I love donuts. And dogs. I mean, I like dogs,” added Councilman Tim Barnes.
Brown said there is a lot of paperwork and other tasks he’s working to complete now.
He said he doesn't want to get just one dog, but two. “I want it for officer retention,” he said.
City Manager Margaret Silveira also thanked Brown for helping feed city staff during the Mendocino Complex evacuations.
At the suggestion of City Attorney David Ruderman, the council didn’t vote on a motion to support the appointment. Ruderman said that will allow the city to review the bylaws and incorporation documents before committing a member to the board.
Instead the council reached consensus to support the idea of having a presence on the board and having the mayor appoint a member to the nonprofit board at the appropriate time.
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