By Mary Owen
The Stayton Police Department wants to minimize the presence of drugs, making Stayton a better place to live, work and play.
“With the partnership of businesses, schools and the community, we can help strengthen our fight against drugs,” Police Chief Rich Sebens said.
The department is raising $25,000 to cover costs of its first Drug Detection Canine Program, and Where to Start Health and Fitness Studio has jumped on board with its first annual K9Run.
“This year’s event will feature a 5K walk or run and an 8K run through Stayton, followed by festivities in Pioneer Park,” said Tirzah Hawkins, co-owner with her husband, Daniel, of Where to Start.
The walk/run starts at 11 a.m. on Sept. 23, with check-in time an hour earlier, at Pioneer Park. Registration is $30 and, if prior to Sept. 7, includes a K9 Run tech shirt and a goodie bag. Where to Start will supply prizes for three places in the race. All attendants who bring can of cat or dog food or other item from the Willamette Valley Humane Society’s wishlist (http://willamettehumane.org), will receive a ticket for prizes provided by local businesses. Register at Where to Start, 564 N. Third St., or online at the humane society website.
Hawkins came up with the idea to host the run after talking to Sebens about Where to Start’s April 1 run/walk and learning about the department’s desire to fund a canine program.
“Since Where to Start would like to be more involved in community events, and thoroughly enjoyed hosting the ‘Fool Your Fat’ run; we volunteered to host the fundraiser run,” she said. “It just seemed natural that we would encourage people to run with their own dogs at this event.”
All friendly, well-behaved dogs that have current rabies certificates are welcome to join in the day’s festivities, she said.
“Daniel and I are active runners, and we frequently run with our own dogs,” Hawkins said. “We have looked for local runs where dogs are welcome, and there are not that many. We thought the theme was fitting for creating our own pet-friendly run.”
Hawkins hopes at least 100 people will participate in the run, with all proceeds as well as any business sponsorships and donations going to the program.
“We just hope the local community and local businesses love the idea as much as we do and want to be involved,” she said. “We need everyone’s help to make this a success.”
According to Chief Sebens, the department began researching the possibility of having the first drug detection dog when Officer Paul Eves shared his desire to be a K9 handler.
“We have used drug canines in Stayton for years, but have always had to request them from the Oregon State Police, Oregon State Penitentiary or the Marion County Jail, and they are not always available,” Sebens said. “We have found them to be very effective in working with the school district for drug detection in schools, during traffic enforcement, and using search warrants.
“Because a dog’s nose is much more effective than ours – 220 million olfactory receptors versus our 5 million – they are able to find the drugs much quicker than we can,” he added. “This saves a lot of time and allows us to find them when we may look right past them, giving us a much higher success rate on our drug investigations.”
The $25,000 start-up cost for the program includes the dog, training, supplies and vehicle set up, he said.
“During the SummerFest street fair, we had a dunk tank fundraiser where the public helped us to raise $900 by dunking myself and sergeants to help the program,” Sebens said. “And many of the officers will be participating in the upcoming fundraisers, including the K9 Run.”
Sebens said the addition of a canine unit will help reduce the cost to taxpayers by locating drugs within minutes that can take several officers up to an hour or more to find, if at all.
“Additionally, drugs and other crimes go hand-in-hand,” he added. “If we can prevent drugs in our community, we have a better chance of being able to prevent further crimes such as thefts, fraud, robberies and burglaries.”
For information on the K9 Run, contact Hawkins at 503-798-3479.
For more information about or to donate to the K9 program, contact Officer Paul Eves at 503-769-3421 or e-mail him at peves@staytonpd.org.
