Hackettstown Police K-9 Jada
I could not find a thread solely for Jada. This is a very impressive dog! Officer Laver is doing a great job with his partner for sure.
Lets help this team have a chance to win a grant for medical cost, grooming, care, equipment etc.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/hackettstownpd/posts/?ref=page_internal
This a direct link however it seems to be down as of this writing.
http://www.aftermath.com/k9-grant
Greg
4catmom 
justwondering 
JerseyWolf JerseyWolf, you shouldn't speak about things you know nothing about! Tell us here how much K-9 Jada is costing the town please. Or haven't you checked into that yet and just speak without facts?
Hey, I admit it--I could be wrong. Perhaps no tax dollars (local, state, or federal) were used to pay for the dog, or any necessary supportive materials (everything from a food bowl to modifications to a police vehicle). Perhaps no tax dollars are spent on care for the dog, from food to grooming to vet care to eventual cremation/burial costs. Perhaps no tax dollars were ever spent to train officers for many hours to properly handle and care for the dog. And perhaps no tax dollars are ever spent on police caring for the dog, such as time spent taking the dog to a vet.
But even if that were the case--even if the town managed to secure all of that with constant, guaranteed, public donations--the money would still be better spent elsewhere. Police dogs are really only a significant benefit in very rare situations, and for those situations, it would be more logical to have one or two dogs managed by the county or the local State police barracks, to be "loaned" to the local departments as necessary.
But even if that were the case--even if the town managed to secure all of that with constant, guaranteed, public donations--the money would still be better spent elsewhere.
completely missing the point. Any $ raised for Jada was raised solely for Jada, it's not like that money would have still been raised and could have been used elsewhere if it were not for the dog.
Jim L. The following is from a comprehensive study on establishing a K9 unit. Each department needs to evaluate the community needs in order to warrant the addition of a K9 program. I would gather this type of thought and research went into the decision to add K9 Jada.
"It has been said that a single K9 team is as effective as 10 patrol officers and can
cover the same ground in a fraction of the time when conducting certain searches. For
this reason alone a K9 team reduces costs and increases efficiency when attempting to
locate people or property.
With a faster and more cost effective location device (K9 team), a reduction in
liability is achieved by having the ability to show that every possible resource is being
used to combat crime and locate lost individuals. Additionally, police dogs of this day
and age are required to fall under stricter guidelines and training to ensure that they are an
appropriate fit for the community that they serve."
Here is a link to the entire study:
http://www.k9fleck.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/EstablishingaCanineUnit.pdf
Greg I don't need to read the study. "certain searches" is the important part of that. Dogs can be amazing at tracking by scent, or locating drugs well hidden inside a home, or finding buried bodies. But those scenarios are rare, in small-town New Jersey. Thus, a shared dog from the county or state is actually what is most "cost effective."
And those "stricter guidelines and training" are what ultimately costs the taxpayers.
And Jim, I agree that money raised for a dog needs to be spent on a dog. But I doubt that a bunch of people just walked into the police station and said, "We want to get you a dog and pay for everything." The police sought money for a dog. But they could have sought money for more effective things--or worked with other communities to seek money for shared dogs for the county or state.
Mansfield no longer has a K-9 unit on their force. The handler resigned to take a job in another town and Mansfield sold Jax to the town the handler is now employed with.
Snow I agree Jersey however the study goes into a great bit of detail regarding costs including start up as well as continuing expenses. It discusses with hard data the savings on several fronts in having a K9 unit- even for a small department like ours. Believe me I had similar thoughts about costs and such back when the program was first being pitched. After reading the study, albeit from 2007 now, I believe it is not a financial burden to have our own K9 unit.
It really is worth the 20 minute read of the report. Its only 45 pages or so.
The 2016 ans 2017 Police operating budget is dollar for dollar the exact same so I fail to see how Jada has any impact on property taxes. All fundraisers, donations and grants received were solely because ppl wanted to give to the dog, including a donation of a ballistic vest for her. To think the same amount of $ would have been raised for any other need is kind of naive
The fact is Jada has been a huge asset to the police and sadly is needed a lot. She has also been a great asset to the community doing numerous outreach programs to neighborhood schools, libraries etc
I would think the impact on property taxes would be obvious, even if (hypothetically) the dog, itself, including all upkeep costs, was entirely "free." The police are paid from property taxes. There need to be so many officers on duty, in order to maintain regular services. Every hour that a police officers is being paid to work, but is not on regular duty because he is training/maintaining the dog, another officer must be on duty. And that adds up to a LOT of man-hours.
And if the police budget is exactly the same, then where did that money come from? And what about all of the future man-hours? Every time the dog has to go to the vet, I would assume that a police officer is paid to take him. An officer is almost certainly getting paid, just to fill the dog's water bowl every day.
I'm not at ALL saying that the dog is not OCCASIONALLY a real asset. (And, personally, I love dogs!) But when the town has the highest property taxes in the county, and many residents are struggling to get by, is the dog really THAT cost-effective? If it was, then virtually every department in the country would have a dog. And yet, that is definitely not the case.
An officer is almost certainly getting paid, just to fill the dog's water bowl every day.
You do know that 1 officer is assigned Jada and that she lives with him, right? So she is taken care of by that officer all day long including his personal time
There is a town council meeting tonight at 7pm perhaps you should attend and get all your questions answer since this seems to be a major issue for you.
It's not an issue for me, at all. I don't even live in town, any more (though I have family and friends who do). I merely pointed out that such unnecessary expenses are the reason the town has such outrageous property taxes.
It's easy to say, "Cool! Our town has its own police dog!" Until you realize that you can't afford to get your kid that new bike for Christmas, because your property taxes went up again by a few hundred dollars for the year. But if the people of Hackettstown want to pay for it, they certainly have that right.
Why does this have to become an 'issue', why can't people just vote for something good. Why does everything have to be dissected, analyzed, etc.
Nature Lover Agree with JW, State Police ( right in Flanders ), could share / loan as needed.
Too much overlap in the municipalities.
Why does every small town need a "chief of police "...do things vary that much with law from town to town within same state ?
Steven Majority of town taxes go to schooling not police departments. The departments general Police budget is in entirely separate from the K9 budget. THe K9 budget is only made up of donations the k9 officer has to raise. Jada has received free healthcare and free food from donors. All equipment was purchased from the donations that sit in the K9 budget. So pretty much if They don’t fundraiser He doesn't get to buy stuff. Hence why He is trying to win the K9 Grant. Moreover Chris purchased Jada on his own and started the unit with the intent on it not costing the town nothing. He does not ask for a K9 stipend this includes the long hours before and after work caring for Jada. He does not receive overtime for training they move the schedule around. Hackettstown has an ongoing Heroin epidemic which causes related crimes like the gas station robberies and home invasions. When dealing with these scenarios they are all time sensitive. In the past they used to wait 30 mins to over an hour for state police or other agencies. He resides in town and can respond within a short amount of time. To say hey not my little sweet town is nonsense. So the people who were being negative towards this should start to think before they say something that they have no clue about!
Michael Thanks Greg for trying to get the word out, sad that so many people want to turn it into something negative. Neighbors helping neighbor's ....
Independence used to have a K9. When she passed and wasn't replaced by another, property taxes surely didn't go down.
Also, hackettstown has enough drugs going through it to keep that dog busy til her golden years.
Just sayin.
Melissa29 I would like to see a cost accounting provided in the paper or website , showing where the funds come from and what they are used for.
I have nothing but utmost respect for law enforcement, however, nothing is free and rarely 100 % donation funded in todays world.
oh geeze - this is really worth that much discussion? don't get me started on waste of our taxpayer dollars., particularly federal...............I will restrain myself.................Jada is the good news..................
"It's not an issue for me, at all. I don't even live in town, any more" - - - so then BYE. Go complain about things in YOUR town
HLamusesme Why you so mad, bro. The town got 1 dog and THAT'S the reason property taxes are so outrageous...
Taxes have been outrageous for YEARS, and it's not because the town got a K9, which leads me to assume you're not even from Jersey, despite what your handle might say.
Perhaps your time would be better spent going to town council meetings and expressing your concerns and discontent there, or maybe just go to learn something. The meetings are public, and are held the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of every month at 7:00 pm. in Town Hall. Although, there's not much you can do to argue against a K9 at this point... Jada's already here.
Either help vote for the grant, or move along.
MH Good news!
We actually have a chance everyone! HACKETTSTOWN PD has made the Top 30 list (The list is in no particular order). We are beyond excited and grateful.
VOTING INSTRUCTIONS:
Go to: https://www.aftermath.com/k9-grant/
Scroll down and select: HACKETTSTOWN PD NJ
Keep voting daily until, 11/07/17. Please share this post and encourage everyone to vote!
Natari 
Luca Hey, I just fake voted for you; best luck and thanks for taking care of the pup and thank the pup for taking care of us!
strangerdanger I vote every day ...come Hackettstown, let's come together and help Jada win!!
My question would be - do they work?
Do drug sniffing dogs have a better than chance of hitting on drugs or do they have more false positives than hits?
Court cases seemed mixed - a simple Google search would provide the answer.
ru I vote daily also, voting is over on the 7th. Come on everyone, support the community.
Now that it appears that marijuana will finally be legal in N.J., will this K-9 dog be obsolete? I mean what else would the dogs nose be used for? Does it double as a cadaver dog? I mean cops in general will have to do something other with their noses not being able to smell out 1 gram of raw marijuana and getting an easy collar.
Does the dog smell for opiates? Seems like it would have a better use no?
not fooled I just watched a series on Netflix called 'Under Arrest" It was filmed in Canada back in the late 80's through to probably mid 90's. Anyway my point is the K9 dogs were cross trained for tracking, apprehending, crowd control. They were a huge asset to the policemen/women. Sometimes of the departments pooled all the dogs to one case. It was fun to watch because those Canucks did not mess around. The mullets and mustaches were hysterical too. LOL
Police K9's are trained to detect all types of drugs. Cops can generally smell weed without the dog like the rest of the general public. Also, as described above, they are cross trained to track missing people/ fleeing suspects. With that said, Police K9's will still be useful in NJ and anywhere else deployed.
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