Scottsville Police Department to purchase new K-9 cruiser with grant money

The Scottsville Police Department will soon welcome a new addition to the streets, but it’s not another officer.

The department is the recipient of $30,100 through the USDA’s Opioid Initiative Grant Award—something they say they’ll use to purchase a new K-9 cruiser.

“We have a K-9 dog,” Assistant Chief Darren Tabor says, “He’s five years old and his names Umo.”

The problem is, Umo’s ride isn’t exactly reliable.

“Our K-9 vehicle has very high mileage and if we don’t have that vehicle on the street, we can’t carry our dog.”

Tabor says carrying that dog is vital to their end goal of combating drug use in the city.

“Opioid use and drug usage is a big part of our enforcement now. Drug usage overall has been increased, meth usage is and heroin, we’re starting to see some heroin on the street now here and we’re making a lot of traffic stops and the K-9 dog is a big part of that. We feel this will really help us out.”

The grant will not only provide a lower mileage cruiser but also come equipped with one vital feature they’re current cruiser is lacking.

“It will also have a cage in the back. It will be a split cage where you can transport a prisoner as well as carry the dog. Our current K-9 vehicle is just strictly for a dog in the back. It doesn’t allow you to carry a prisoner, so we’re pretty excited about that.

If you see the new K-9 cruiser out in the future, he says know they’re working hard to cleaning up the city’s streets.