Poulsbo Police Department bringing back K-9 narcotics unit

As drug overdose deaths continue to increase, the crisis facing the county has prompted one city to add a drug-sniffing dog, or K-9, back into the police force.

In April the Poulsbo City Council approved a budget amendment for $15,000 that allows the police department to utilize some drug enforcement funds to help pay for the narcotic detection dog, anticipated to arrive in July.

The new K-9, a one-year-old female chocolate lab, will come trained and ready to sniff out illegal drugs like cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine or heroin. She will be trained and work with a handler, a Poulsbo police officer to be designated, to complete a certification and be active in police activities by fall, according to Poulsbo Police Chief Ron Harding.

Changes to state law also precipitate the addition for Poulsbo. The law often called the "Blake fix," which had allowed local law enforcement to arrest suspects for possession of drugs as of last year, in response to a 2021 state Supreme Court ruling known as the Blake decision, means officers are again making stops based on reasonable suspicion. And according to Harding, the period when enforcement was minimized has made a difference in what officers now encounter.

"We’ve noticed an increase in the amount (of illegal narcotics) that people have on them," said Poulsbo Police Chief Ron Harding.

Between 2020 and 2023, which includes the pandemic years and the years post-Blake, when police were not arresting for misdemeanor drug possession offenses, the Poulsbo Police Department was seizing around one pound or less of illegal drugs annually, Harding said. In the last 18 months, however, the department has seen that number increase to approximately 15 pounds.

Kilo, Poulsbo Police Department’s last narcotic detection dog, helped to seize a substantial amount of illegal drugs during his years on the force, from 2014 until 2019, according to the Poulsbo Police Department.

An amount of $15,000 from a dedicated, drug-related police fund will be used to cover the start up costs for the initiative. In past years some specific donations, like vet care or pet food, were offered by the community to support Kilo, and Poulsbo Police Department will accept similar donations in the future.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Poulsbo Police restore K-9 program to help with drug enforcement