The Pittsfield Township Board of Trustees will vote Wednesday night on whether to allow the township’s Public Safety Department to enter an agreement with Ypsilanti police for shared usage of a K-9 unit.
Public Safety Director Matt Harshberger said the department cut its K-9 unit two or three years ago due to budget concerns and hasn’t been able to bring it back since. When police have needed a dog in their investigations, they have been using other departments’ K-9 units on a sort of mutual-aid basis, he said.
The agreement with the Ypsilanti Police Department would have Pittsfield Township be responsible for the vehicle, while the YPD would house the unit, Harshberger said. The K-9 unit would be available for Pittsfield Township police at any time, he said.
“Right now, all we’re kicking in is the vehicle used for the unit, which is a (Chevrolet) Tahoe we had already purchased for patrol,” he said. “We would rededicate it for the K-9 option.”
The Ypsilanti Police Department already has a K-9 unit and would be responsible for the officer’s salary and any costs associated with the dog, Harshberger said.
The Board of Trustees is expected to vote on the agreement at the meeting Wednesday, which begins at 6:30 p.m. at Morris Hall, 6201 W. Michigan Ave.
If trustees vote to approve the agreement, attorneys for both departments will finalize the details before Pittsfield Township can officially begin using the K-9 unit on what amounts to an on-call basis, Harshberger said.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.