Police K9 “Melvin” will soon be patrolling the roads of Warren County with his handler Sergeant Josh Malin. The Warren County Sheriff’s Department has revived its K9 program. Melvin is a sable colored 65-pound male German Shepherd imported from Hungary and he is nearly two years old. 

According to Sheriff Kevin Harrison, the revival of the program was planned with the passage of Prop P in 2020. That ballot measure added a half-cent sales tax in Warren County towards the Sheriff’s Department. After several years, they had the resources available to revive the program. 

“The reason we didn’t get one (a dog) right away is it’s a huge commitment,” said Harrison. 

He continued stating there were issues with officer turnover and they wanted to make sure they were able to find the right dog and the right officer to be the handler.  

The revival of the program did come at a cost, from the purchase of the dog and ancillary equipment to a new vehicle and ongoing costs like food and training. 

The total cost of the dog and training amounts to $13,200 although there are additional costs related to the revival of the program. Those included the purchase of a new Chevrolet Tahoe for the K9 unit. 

While the purchase of the new vehicle was already planned as a part of the department’s annual vehicle replacements, Harrison said he elected to purchase the Tahoe instead of the department’s usual Ford Explorers and Dodge Durangos so there would be more space for Melvin. 

Outside of the roughly $50,000 cost for the new Tahoe, the department spent roughly $5,000 outfitting the vehicle specifically for K9 use, along with the costs to outfit it as a police vehicle. 

That equipment included a kennel for Melvin, temperature sensors to ensure the dog is safe and technology that can open the windows and automatically alert Malin if the temperature in the vehicle is too high for dogs. 

The kennel also allows Malin to remotely release Melvin in the event he is under duress and needs help. 

“We wanted to protect our Melvin,” said Harrison. 

Harrison said they had been attempting to revive the K9 program but with officer turnover they had trouble retaining officers long enough for them to receive the training necessary to work with a dog. 

“We were very confident he (Malin) would make a good handler, and the time was right,” said Harrison.

Malin has been with the department since 2015. He and Melvin are currently training at the Boone County Sheriff’s Office K9 Training Center and are expected to enter into service by the end of this year. 

Melvin is named for Sheriff Melvin Twiehaus, who was the longest serving sheriff in Warren County’s history, holding the office from 1961-84. The name was awarded with the blessing of Twiehaus’ family. 

According to a post on the Warren County Sheriff’s Department Facebook, they intend to use the K9 unit in narcotics detection, the apprehension and tracking of suspects, search and rescue missions and community outreach.