K-9 Officer needs a flak jacket

As a community let us help the Sheriff’s Office protect Solé as she protects us all.

As part of the Citizens Academy it has been my honor and privilege to ride with the K-9 unit of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office while on patrols. Deputy Scott Sciaretta, along with his partner Solé, a Belgian Malinois, is the only K-9 Unit in the Sheriff’s Office.

As the calls from dispatch started to roll in I learned that the majority of the K-9 calls were agency assists on traffic stops, the overwhelming majority of these calls were drug related.

Our very first call for service was an agency assist call for a traffic stop conducted by a Montana Highway Patrolman. As we arrived on scene Deputy Sciaretta and his K-9 partner Solé were informed by the Trooper on scene that he had Particularized Suspicion to believe that there are illegal narcotics in the vehicle.

I observed from inside the K-9 Unit as Deputy Sciaretta deployed K-9 Solé to perform an exterior vehicle search. Deputy Sciaretta walked Solé over to the vehicle and presented the exterior of the vehicle to his partner. Solé searched the exterior of the vehicle and when she got to the driver’s side door she sat. When Solé sits it is her Passive alert that the odor of illegal narcotics is present.

With consent from the owner Deputy Sciaretta placed K-9 Solé inside the vehicle where Solé then alerted and produced the illegal narcotics. K-9 Solé was then rewarded on the side of the road with her favorite toy.

Solé is certified in narcotic detection. Solé’s other duties she has been trained in and performed are Building Clearing, Patrol Apprehension and Article Searches. She has also been used in the schools for locker searches to try and keep our schools drug-free for our children.

In her career she has been a faithful partner serving Deputy Sciaretta with overwhelming success, formerly in Sanders and now for Lake County. We have a large volume of illegal narcotics passing through on U.S. Highway 93, U.S. Highway 28 and U.S. Highway 90.

As the night went on I learned that the Lake County Sheriff Office has a relatively small K-9 budget which does not allow for the many needs of an efficient K-9 Unit such as the purchase of a dog or initial training.

Prior to Deputy Sciaretta hiring he took it upon himself to get Solé the necessary training in Narcotics Detection. In doing so he too is also a certified K-9 handler. He has already started with a new puppy that he’s training who will take Solé place when she retires.

One of the most surprising things I learned is that Solé does not have a bullet-proof, stab-proof vest. There just is no money in the budget for this type of equipment. A bullet-stab proof vest will cost approximately $1,000.

It is my goal to do fundraising in our community to buy the vest. In addition just as with our deputies’ vests they start to deteriorate after 3 to 5 years and need to be replaced. As the fund raising progresses any additional monies that are collected into the K-9 fund will remain in that fund for unforeseen K-9 expenses.

As law enforcement agencies around the nation struggle, with reduced budgets, to equip their K-9 partners with armor wear they need, communities are having fund raisers to support their local K-9 guardians of the night.