Kenzo has since retired since this column. I still don't like K-9s.

When I took over this space in the Chronicle three-ish years ago, I had a short list of topics I wanted to cover. While the list has grown considerably, one issue has stayed at the top of the list: The Millbury Police Department’s K-9 program.

For a long time, I’ve been leery of police dogs in general. Those who know me or have kept up with this column know I have a healthy (or unhealthy, depending on your perspective) skepticism of current policing practices anyway, but K-9 programs, in my mind, are especially egregious. The use of animals in law enforcement work comes not from some high-minded animal rights activism, but instead from a place where I’m unconvinced the value of a K-9 is worth the costs - both in dollar and in perception. With the retirement of Kenzo, the MPD’s K-9 animal, I put in a public records request in an effort to confirm my information about Millbury’s program.

Millbury initiated its K-9 program in 2013 through a grant from the Stanton Foundation, an organization that provides resources for many issues, including the establishment of K-9 police units in Massachusetts municipalities. Officer Dan Daly, the town’s K-9 officer, applied for $25,000 in grant money, received the funding, and, before long, Kenzo the canine cop was a member of Millbury’s force.

Over the last six-plus years, Kenzo has been busy. In terms of absolute billable activity (literally what a K-9 officer can put in for), the dog averages between one and two K-9-specific activities per week, with between one and two of those activities per month being explicit police work (either training or out on a call). Most of the “billables” are mandatory overtime to Officer Daly, who houses the dog at his own residence and thus qualifies for compensation under the “Garcia Rule,” named after a Supreme Court case and, according to the Stanton Foundation, “mandates the handler compensation of ‘at-home care’ of police dogs under the Fair Labor Standards Act.” Officer Daly, for what it’s worth, takes much of this as comp time as opposed to paid overtime.

All this adds up. It’s not only overtime, but it’s vet bills, it’s a place to live, it’s training and equipment (Kenzo gets tactical gear, after all), it’s the K-9 specific vehicle, it’s food… taking care of a pet is expensive enough for many, but for a dog with a job? There’s a lot of money going in and out. As part of my records requests, I asked for the financial transaction log for the program as well, and this is where I was both surprised and impressed: fiscally, the dog is a net positive. Officer Daly does a LOT of fundraising to maintain the program, ranging from t-shirt sales to golf tournaments to soliciting community donations and grants. The result? As of October of 2020, the K-9 program had over $11,000 in funds available.

So a K-9 program is expensive, but it doesn’t have to impact taxpayers in town. I was completely wrong about this, and it made me revisit my beliefs about K-9 programs. One firm belief I held was that dogs were actually useless in actual police work, and using them for drug searches or missing persons was a waste of time and money. I did some research and found a few studies on the matter, and it turns out that, for search and rescue operations (which no one opposes), the dogs are generally successful in the role and are a help to an investigation. It’s not an old tale that we’ve always assumed to be true, it’s quantifiably so. 

On drug searches, the efficacy is less obvious - studies suggest high error rates in drug searches by dogs, and many credible theories exist that support the claim that police dogs falsely alert, either based on a cue from its officer or in an effort to provide a positive result. Put another way, your pet does things to make you happy and receive praise, and so does a K-9. 

Still, I went in with three ideas, and I was wrong on two of them. As someone who has criticized Officer Daly in this space and in other public discussions, I shot him a message and owned up to it with an apology. He was incredibly gracious when he didn’t have to be, and spoke to me about his experience and plans for the future.

"I loved the program so much, I wanted it to survive," says Daly. You can tell he is truly passionate about this work and the program, and gives a lot of energy to make it happen. He told me quite a bit about his experience, along with some information that wasn’t detailed in the records request. For example, while the town was technically responsible for feeding Kenzo (as, technically, they own him), Millbury only paid for dog food twice, ever - the rest was out of Daly’s pocket. Says Daly, “I didn't want the burden on the town because I wanted to continue the program."

Given the amount of comp time he took instead of overtime wages he was entitled to, that also saved some money on our end, but Daly was similarly open about bringing Kenzo to countless community events and activities and not always charging for them. Daly sees it as a public service rather than a duty, and there’s something to be said for that type of service.

Daly plans to restart the program in the spring with a new dog and new grants. While I still don’t love the idea of having a K-9 program, I have to admit that it has more benefits and fewer costs to us overall than I thought, and it goes to show that changing one’s mind when new information is presented is not only possible, but valuable. 

I’m less opposed to the program than I was, although I would perhaps want our policies surrounding the next dog to be based more in the science than in common practice for drug searches in particular. Still, I hope Kenzo has a nice retirement with lots of bones and pets in his future. Everyone loves that dog, and the next animal has some rather big, furry paws to full.