By: Cynthia Williamson
NEW HOPE — Police Chief Jerry Speziale was expected to take at least a couple weeks to research whether the borough had use for a drug-sniffing canine.
But less than a week after the council pulled the plug on the program, Mr. Speziale has agreed to give it a try.
“A lot of people really wanted this dog,” Mr. Speziale said. “The community has cried out for this dog.”
At the council’s May 8 meeting, Council President Richard Hirschfield said the decision on the dog was a Police Department matter after questions arose about excessive overtime Corporal Frank DeLuca accrued for the two weeks he was in training for the program as well as who would pay for expenses associated with maintaining a drug dog.
Mr. Speziale said one of the reasons he decided to reinstate the dog is because private individuals pledged to pay for such costs as veterinary care, feeding, retrofitting a police vehicle and building a kennel behind police headquarters at Borough Hall.
“I’m not going to put the burden on taxpayers at a time where we need to look at a lot of other things,” he said. “So I’m not going to burn all my money on a dog.”
Estimating it would cost as much as $2,000 to equip a vehicle and build a kennel, Mr. Speziale explained that the dog would not be allowed inside headquarters due to sanitation reasons.
Mr. Speziale said he isn’t certain just how the dog would be used to curb drug use in the borough. The dog would not officially come on board until he finishes drafting a policy and guidelines, he said.
“We’re going to do it in a way that it’s going to be controlled,” he said. “We’re not going to have dogs running up and down Main Street sniffing purses.”
In the meantime, Mr. DeLuca is back in training — six hours a day, four days a week for 10 weeks. The costs are being paid by the Bucks County Forfeiture Fund. Mr. Speziale said part-time officers are being used to cover the hours Mr. DeLuca is in school, but he still is expected to work a full eight-hour shift.
“As I explained to Frank DeLuca, it’s an extremely big commitment,” he said. “He’s the canine officer, and he’s got to give me a full-time commitment to that position.”
At the same time, Mr. Speziale said, if the drug dog should be needed by other departments, the decision would be left up to Mr. DeLuca.
“Obviously, I want to support the other departments if we have a mutual aid agreement,” he said. “But it’s not going to be a situation where I’m going to have no police coverage in New Hope.”
Mr. DeLuca has said he never would have gotten the dog — a Chesapeake Bay retriever he paid $600 for and named Gunner — if he had known the council had considered retracting its decision.
