Public safety K-9 unit gets $25K donation

The Berkley Public Safety’s new K-9 unit got a leg up with a $25,000 donation.

K-9 units are typically funded entirely by donations from the community.

Fundraising efforts to create the department’s K-9 unit got underway back in March.

Officer Brian Anderson is now the handler for the K-9 unit and works with the department’s new dog, Bear. As is typical with police K-9 handlers and their canine partners, Bear also lives with Anderson.

The $25,000 donation comes from the Mary P. Dolciani Foundation.

Public Safety Director Matt Koehn said in a statement his department could not thank the foundation enough for its generous donation.

“We were simply flabbergasted when they contacted us with news of their wishes to donate to our program,” Koehn said. “This donation had a huge impact on us meeting our initial fundraising goal.”

The fundraising started four months ago with a goal of raising $30,000.

Berkley public safety officials at the time estimated it would cost about $7,000 to buy their dog and $5,000 for training, in addition to the expense of outfitting a police SUV as a K-9 vehicle. Money is also needed for routine and unforeseen veterinary costs for Bear.

Officer Anderson and Bear allow the department to track down missing people, track drugs, locate evidence and suspects, and build bonds with residents.

Building bonds with residents is what led to the Mary P. Dolciani Foundation’s donation.

“We were very surprised to learn that a member of their board of directors is a resident” of Berkley, Koehn said.

The foundation was started in 1982 to further the study of mathematics and education by Mary P. Doliciani, a mathematics textbook author.

Later, the foundation expanded its support to humanitarian projects and public safety, city officials explained in a news release Tuesday.

“Their donation will greatly aid in extending the capabilities of the K-9 unit for the Public Safety team,” the news release said.

Anyone interested in helping the K-9 team can contact Public Safety Lt. Jordan Kobernick at jkobernick@berkleypublicsafety.net, or by calling 248-658-3387.