FARMINGTON – The Franklin County Sheriff’s Department has asked county commissioners for their “blessing” to request a second canine unit Tuesday.

Cpl. Nate Bean and Deputy David Rackliffe presented a proposal to the commissioners, who do not have authority to approve the extra expenditure. The officers, however, were asking for their support.

Sheriff Dennis Pike said he supports his officers’ request, stating that the cost-to-benefit ratio for four-legged officers is great.

“Nothing technologically compares to a well-trained dog,” he said.

If the county budget committee approves the new canine unit, Rackliffe and his dog, Rugar, will attend the Maine Criminal Justice Academy’s canine drug program and canine patrol program at a cost of $480 and $720, respectively. The drug program lasts eight weeks, the patrol program, 12.

Rackliffe said that he is looking into two sources of grant money that might pay all or most of the training expenses.

Commissioners were concerned about being without a deputy for that period of time, but officers assured them that their unit would work short-handed as much as possible for the duration so as not to incur overtime charges.

Bean’s dog, Ben, costs the county $1,300 annually and the two officers said that a second dog would require an additional $300 to $400. The county benefits from a promotional program of a pet food company that supplies a limited amount of dog food to the county, according to Pike.

According to the proposal, none of the five municipal police departments in the county have a canine unit, so Ben is the only police dog in the county. If Ben is unavailable, as he is currently – his handler is recovering from a broken ankle – the closest available police dog belongs to state police in Palmyra. Response time for that unit, if it is available, is potentially two hours. In addition, the officer in a canine unit from Kennebec County recently resigned, and one from Androscoggin County retired.

As part of the only canine unit in the area, Bean is often called out even when he is not working his regular shift, which requires the county to pay him overtime. He argued that with Rackliffe working on canine duty, two shifts would be covered, reducing overtime charges to the county.

Dogs have proven success in tracking criminals and lost persons as well as finding drugs because their sense of smell is much more acute than humans, said Rackliffe. He also pointed out the increase in drug dealers in Franklin County, and said dogs are “an effective tool to locate drugs normally not found by law enforcement officers.”

The second canine unit “would increase the potential interdiction of drugs being transported in and through Franklin County. Along with the seizure of drugs, money and other assets associated with those drugs can be seized,” the proposal states. The money and revenues from the sale of assets would go back to the county treasury.

Bean left commissioners, who had already agreed that the minimal expenditure for the dog was well worth the potential returns, with an anecdote about his dog. The unit recently responded to a burglary in Strong. Bean’s dog, Ben, tracked the suspects hiding in a closet in a nearby vacant apartment that would not have been searched otherwise. The two burglary suspects were arrested, and stolen money was returned.