K9 Program: Officer Dickerson & Lord

With the 2005 hire of Officer Robert Dickerson, Everest Metro was fortunate to acquire his K-9  companion...Lord. The Everest Metro K-9 program is starting for a lot less than it would normally cost. "When  all said and done, we estimate that it's going to cost $15,000 to $18,000 for the entire program," said former Chief Dan Vergin. "We're saving about $20,000 plus the time it would take to send somebody to get trained. "It's not something we planned," he added. "But it's a unique opportunity, and we're going to capitalize on it." The the department received several donations from area businesses to help defray the dog's $6,000 price tag.

Lord - a Belgian Malinois (pronounced MAL-in-wah) is a medium size dog of exceptional beauty and working ability used often in police work. Lord is young for a police dog, but Dickerson said that he's well trained and will probably serve the force for 10 years. "He's a patrol canine," he said. "Lord does drug tracking, building search, area search, officer protection and apprehension. He does so many things and he does them well."