Funding for police departments is a known challenge. Even before campaigns to defund departments became popular, many precincts struggled with insufficient resources for serving their communities. This has been particularly difficult for programs like K-9 units that require additional funding. In order to combat this dearth of resources and recognize the incredible service provided by K-9 officers, the crime scene cleanup company Aftermath established the Aftermath K-9 grant. The grants are awarded to police departments based on votes from community members, and awards often total more than $10,000 each year.

Helping Departments Establish K-9 Units

When the grant was initially established in 2010, Aftermath chose a single department to assist in establishing a K-9 unit. The grant’s funds were intended to provide the precinct with the resources needed to train both dogs and officers, buy protective gear, and fund veterinary care for the K-9 officers. It’s been shown that a K-9 unit is an incredible asset to a police department, so the grant was a great way to help smaller departments that wouldn’t otherwise have the funds establish their K-9 unit.

Funding Resources for Existing K-9 Units

In 2015, after the grant had been offered for five years, Aftermath decided to expand the grant to include departments that already had a K-9 unit. These departments were previously ineligible for the grant because it focused on establishing new units, but the expansion of the grant provided funding for additional resources for existing units, too. The grant now offered to fund necessities such as veterinary care, food, ongoing training, and certifications for departments with existing K9 units. This expansion helps departments maintain their K9 units even if they see a decrease in funding from their municipality.

Keeping Communities Safe from Threats

Funding for K-9 units is particularly important because police dogs are one of the most effective tools for law enforcement that departments have at their disposal. Indeed, K-9 officers are often credited with reducing crime in communities and tackling important tasks such as drug detection and bomb-sniffing. These responsibilities are outside the scope of a human officer’s ability, but a K-9 officer can provide additional assistance with tasks that can keep communities safer.

Building Community Connections

Perhaps the most important aspect of the Aftermath K-9 grant is its ability to build connections within the community. While some community members may have reservations about law enforcement, few are able to resist the charms of a department’s K-9 unit. K-9 officers often visit local schools as well as community events in order to build relationships in the community and spread safety awareness. The efforts of K-9 units have improved many departments’ connections to their communities, which often improves the overall safety of the community, too!  

About PGUI

Professional Governmental Underwriters, Inc., is a full-service risk management company dedicated to assisting public, educational and non-profit entities in the management of their professional liability exposures including educators liability insurance. We are dedicated to providing state-of-the-art professional underwriting management and loss control advisory services on behalf of our designated carriers. For more information, call us toll-free at (800) 586-6502.