Jeannette residents pleaded with council members Thursday to rethink a decision to end the city’s police dog program, while criticizing the move that has put two canines out of work.
“We just cut eight feet out of that police unit,” resident Kathie Tanyer said. “Those dogs are invaluable.”
A police dog has the ability to do things their two-legged counterpart can’t, such as chase down a fleeing suspect, resident Tim Williamson said.
“If they tell me I’m letting the dog go, I’m stopping,” he said. “The dog is 100% needed.”
While supporters voiced their opinions to council, police dog handler Sgt. James Phillips sat quietly and listened. Outside of the meeting, he said he was grateful residents packed council chambers.
“It’s great to see the community support,” he said. “It shows the hard work and dedication I’ve put in the last 10 years spoke the loudest here tonight.”
The backlash was in response to the city disbanding the police dog program July 23, idling its two canines.
Diesel, a 4-year-old Belgian malinois, has been at a kennel since late July after Phillips didn’t immediately sign an agreement to take ownership, citing liability concerns and a legal review of the document.
Council made no decisions regarding Diesel’s future Thursday. No one on council publicly addressed the situation.
Diesel is in his prime working life, and it’s unclear if becoming a family pet is the right move. Solicitor Tim Witt said after the meeting that council is “evaluating options to try to make sure Diesel ends up in an appropriate location, preferably as a working dog.”
The city is footing the bill for Diesel’s stay at a kennel.
“Can we please do something about getting him out of a kennel and getting him somewhere?” retired Officer John Ryan asked council.
The disbandment of the police dog program came about a month after Phillips and Officer Matthew Painter, who is the handler for Dutch shepherd Kilo, filed a federal lawsuit, claiming the city violated labor laws by not paying overtime and costs associated with caring for the two dogs outside of normal working hours.
In documents released Thursday, city officials estimate those costs could amount to as much as $35,000 per officer.
City officials have said the expenses outweigh the benefits of the program.
In 2023, the program cost $214,000, which includes both officers’ regular wages and fuel expenses for their SUVs, according to figures released Thursday. City officials are evaluating the police dogs’ performance by focusing on how many self-initiated arrests the canines and their handlers made that could not have otherwise been made by their human counterparts alone.
That number, between 2018 and so far in 2024, is two, manager Ethan Keedy has said. There were 154 police dog deployments in that time frame, but Keedy said the majority involved the canine assisting another officer or helping an outside agency.
Phillips has disputed those numbers and said a police dog is a tool that can be used by other officers and agencies. He believes city officials are not doing a complete search of the department’s records.
The city bought Diesel in 2022 with the help of an $11,000 donation from the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office. Diesel replaced Arees, a German shepherd, who retired that year and now lives with Phillips. He raised enough money to foot the entire bill for the patrol unit he used until recently.
The proceeds from extensive fundraising Phillips performed over the years for the program is in his control and is not in a city account. It remains unclear what will happen with that money.
Kilo came with Painter when he left the Uniontown police force in 2021. Donations collected in 2023 helped pay for the purchase of an SUV to allow Kilo to join Painter on the job in Jeannette.
Both of those vehicles have been turned in.
In a letter provided to the Trib, Jeannette officials asked in October 2022 for help from the district attorney’s office to purchase the SUV for Kilo. Keedy said the city didn’t get any assistance and paid $8,000 toward Kilo’s vehicle.
After providing the funding in 2021 to get Diesel, there were other needs at departments elsewhere in Westmoreland County in 2022 that needed to be filled, District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli said. It’s the city’s responsibility to maintain the program, she said.
“We are hopeful this K9 should be put to good use for the residents of Westmoreland County,” she said of Diesel.
Emails obtained by the Trib showed city officials attempted to schedule a meeting with the district attorney’s office in June. A June letter indicated police sought $19,385 from the office to buy two police radios and an in-car video system.
Keedy criticized what he described as repeated lack of communication in response to the city’s requests for help.
A spokesperson said the $19,385 request is being reviewed.
Renatta Signorini is a TribLive reporter covering breaking news, crime, courts and Jeannette. She has been working at the Trib since 2005. She can be reached at rsignorini@triblive.com.
