Posted on Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 1:28 p.m.
Chelsea police can't afford K-9 unit after founder retires
By Kyle Feldscher
After more than 16 years of being the Chelsea Police Department’s lone K-9 officer, Jeff Staebler and his two dogs are now retired, according to a report in the Chelsea Standard.
Jeff Staebler started the K-9 unit in 1995.
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The report states Staebler started the K-9 unit in 1995, and Police Chief Ed Toth says the $30,000 required to keep it going is simply not available. Staebler was the creator of the unit and spent thousands of dollars out of his own pocket to keep it going, according to the report.
To read the full report in the Chelsea Standard, click here.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
Frustrated in A2
Wed, Jul 4, 2012 : 3:10 a.m.
Jeff is a good guy and he had a good dog, sorry to see them go but enjoy your retirement!!!
Huron74
Tue, Jul 3, 2012 : 2:32 p.m.
Well that sure is sad. Has the city or pd reached out to any of the local service clubs for help with raising the $30k need to keep it going?
2020
Tue, Jul 3, 2012 : 12:25 a.m.
Can you say: "Time to contract with the County Sheriff's Office", they have two K-9 units.
jns131
Tue, Jul 3, 2012 : 6:50 p.m.
Chelsea could out source the K 9 unit. He will have no problems finding another job. As for Chelsea? Their crime rate is so low you, I shake my head wondering why they have one. Good luck.
da' shark
Tue, Jul 3, 2012 : 1:33 a.m.
2020: are you a resident of the city of Chelsea? If so, have you ever required the service of the Chelsea police? If you said yes to any of the above, more power to you! Get ready for a shock. Not to knock WCSO, but don't expect the same level of personal service from the County that you would expect from a city police department. As good as WCSO is, they have a lot on their plate. Even with dedicated personnel, that doesn't guarantee that they won't leave the city to assist other county units. Be careful what you ask for.
The Wind Cries
Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 9:34 p.m.
Thank you for your years of service and going above and beyond to keep this asset a part of the community.
kissthecobra
Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 9:34 p.m.
Many residents of Chelsea, of which I am one, found the money spent on a K-9 ridiculous. To my knowledge, the dog primarily rode around in the back of an SUV, which was specially purchased for that purpose. No one in Chelsea that I've asked, and I've asked plenty, has ever seen the K-9 in action, actually working to solve a crime. Why is that? Because Chelsea really doesn't have the types of crime that demand a K-9 unit!!! On the flip side, it is ironic to hear the police chief basically putting out a public appeal for contributions to jhave a K-9 unit, when the police department is the single largest use of our tax dollars, with well over 25 employees. Oh...did I mention that they have a brand spankin' new police department that the majority of Chelsea citizens opposed but the city council rammed through regardless? We don't need no stinkin' K-9 unit!!!
a2citizen
Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 11:09 p.m.
Possibly what happened was the officer knew how to train dogs and he wanted to combine a hobby with family pets with tax dollars.
YpsiVeteran
Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 8:57 p.m.
The people of Chelsea were lucky to have a police chief that cared enough about the city and and its people to allowed the officer to implement the K9 program. The people of Ypsi weren't that fortunate when they had an officer who financed a police dog and all the necessary training out of his own pocket. The Ypsi chief in place at that time, George Basar, did everthing in his power to keep the K9 program from being started and put to use, at a time when drug crime was rampant in Ypsi and a narcotics dog could have been very helpful.
YpsiVeteran
Tue, Jul 3, 2012 : 12:05 a.m.
...to "allow" the officer...
Atticus F.
Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 7:16 p.m.
The image of the 'para-millitary' police officer with a German Shepard is so '1941'.
HONDO
Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 6:54 p.m.
I find it really hard to believe that chelsea and its residents cant raise 30k for their safety. The article doesnt really make sense though. Just ask craig common or jeff daniels for some cash. Ya think in the 16 years they coulda planned better, but thats chelsea for ya!
just a voice
Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 6:36 p.m.
how about a real story on the topic? all this does for me is raise a ton of questions; 1- what did the dog sniff for? Drugs, bombs, tracking, a combo of these or others? 2- how effective was it? did they track that? 3- did the dog have other training like helping to capture people? then you could also bring up the issue of false positives, that is very common with drug dogs? this could be a real article, rather you just made a headline with a few sentences. Ann Arbor dot com FAIL!
Lorrie Shaw
Tue, Jul 3, 2012 : 12:29 a.m.
just a voice: As I understand it, yes, the Chelsea K9 unit has assisted other law enforcement agencies, per the Chelsea Standard: "While the need for Staebler to assist area agencies through mutual aid has decreased over time, he still regularly responded to incidents in the surrounding area up until he retired." I don't think that this article failed at all. It certainly made you aware of the situation, right?
YpsiVeteran
Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 8:48 p.m.
Apparently you missed this part: "To read the full report in the Chelsea Standard, click here." Had you indeed clicked, several of your questions would have been answered.
just a voice
Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 7:47 p.m.
oh Angry, what was I thinking my bad
Angry Moderate
Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 6:39 p.m.
Are you asking AnnArbor.com to do investigative journalism? LOL.
Mick52
Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 6 p.m.
Kudos and thanks to Officer Staebler for his service. If he had to pay out thousands of his own money to help maintain the program it sounds like Chelsea couldn't afford it for some time.
Jack Campbell
Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 5:56 p.m.
Where are our priorities? Thanks for the .05 cent tax break but I would rather have an adequate police force.
Craig Lounsbury
Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 5:49 p.m.
In the age we are in with tight budgets I wonder out loud if K-9 units couldn't consolidate at the county level. "We" as a county could chip in to maintain a reasonable K-9 presence whatever that may be.
Craig Lounsbury
Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 10:20 p.m.
not in the fashion I am suggesting. There are several departments that have a K-9 unit and they "collaborate" in some fashion. That is not one central unit that covers the whole county. That is several separate fiefdoms that will offer assistance to one another.
ToddGack
Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 6:35 p.m.
They have a county wide K9 service in washtenaw county