Clark County sheriff to get new police dog

The Clark County Sheriff’s Office will purchase a new police dog with about $17,000 collected through multiple search warrants in 2015.

Deputies executed the warrants as part of an ongoing drug investigation in December, Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly said. The warrants were executed in different parts of Springfield, Kelly said, including a traffic stop at Knickerbocker Avenue that resulted in the seizure of $34,000.

A duffel bag with two pounds of marijuana and a semi-automatic pistol were also found inside the vehicle, the Springfield News-Sun reported at the time.

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Altogether, the sheriff’s office seized more than $82,000 in cash, Kelly said.

Deputies also found an additional two semi-automatic pistols, four pounds of marijuana and a half ounce of cocaine when they executed two other search warrants at 645 West Grand Ave. and 730 Knickerbocker Ave. in Springfield, the Springfield News-Sun previously reported.

“It shows how these investigations and how lucrative drug trafficking can be,” he said. “It points out why we need a county wide effort in enforcement and working together.”

The drug investigation continues, Kelly said, but a Clark County judge ruled that the $34,000 should be distributed between the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office and the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office will use its half to purchase a new K9, Kelly said, because the previous one has retired. He plans to post the open position soon, he said.

Kelly hopes the new unit will be on the streets of Clark County by early 2017.