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A check for $5,000 was sent to Deputy Kris Weisner by the 11,000 member National Association of Chiefs of Police for the of the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department’s K-9 program on February 4, 2003.
The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department was selected to receive the $5,000 grant as part of the K-9 Placement Program sponsored by the National Association of Chiefs of Police. This 2 year old program was developed to help under-funded police departments with their K-9 programs. Applications are accepted from any U.S. law enforcement agency and selection is based on the department’s need. Grants have been given to law enforcement agencies in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina, Tennessee and Michigan.
Bartholomew County (Columbus), Indiana is located in the southern third of Indiana, located along Interstate 65 approximately 40 miles south of Indianapolis and 64 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky. The county has a population of approximately 75,000 people, a land area of 407 square miles, and has 850 miles of county roads as well as state roads that run through it.
The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department has 37 full time merit officers, 45 civilian jail employees, and 25 reserve deputies. The jail’s average daily inmate population is 170. In 2001 the department responded to 22,621 calls for service.
Deputy Weisner had received permission to start a new K-9 program, but was told that the funding was not in the budget and that he would have to find the funding for it outside the department. As a result of the $5,000 grant made by NACOP, the program was started, and on June 3, 2003, their 5th day on patrol, Deputy Weisner and K-9 Futar found 1 ½ pounds of marijuana during a routine traffic stop. Three people were arrested.
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