By Kelly Doran
Sun staff
The village of Batavia Police recently welcomed a new member to the department, a German Shepherd by the name of Kraft.
Kraft is Batavia’s first police dog, Chief Michael Gardner said. He has been on duty with Chris McMillan, Batavia’s canine handler, since Feb. 12.
Kraft is a dual-purpose dog, which means he is both a drug detection and a police patrol dog, Gardner said. He can track people and items.
McMillan started training with Kraft in mid-December and finished with a certification test on Feb. 11, he said.
Gardner wanted a police dog because the village is growing and because of increasing drug problems. Having Kraft adds to the department’s services, he said.
“I’d like to be able to show people that the village is doing stuff to try to give back and enhance services instead of taking them away,” Gardner said.
Both McMillan and Gardner learned a lot in training, Gardner said. He attended some of McMillan and Kraft’s training sessions. The two put a lot of work into getting a police dog.
McMillan feels the training was the best he could have asked for. He especially appreciated how realistic it was. Kraft and McMillan will continue to train for a minimum of four hours a week as long as Kraft is on the job.
Before McMillan and Kraft could go on duty, McMillan had to pass a state certification test and he will have to recertify every year, Gardner said.
“I think it just, throughout everything, it just showed how important a canine dog can be to a police department, how important the tool is,” McMillan said.
Dogs are amazing, Gardner said. They are very smart and pick up on things that humans don’t notice.
Not only will Kraft benefit the Batavia police, but McMillan and Kraft can also support other departments if needed, Gardner said. Kraft has already assisted on a case in Brown County.
“I don’t think we could have asked for a better dog than what we got,” Gardner said.
Kraft is a year and a half old and lives with McMillan and his wife. Kraft is their first pet, McMillan said.
Kraft doesn’t listen to anyone but him, McMillan said, partially because of the bond the two have formed and partially because Kraft only knows commands in a foreign language.
McMillan was chosen to be the canine officer because he was the only officer that met all of Gardner’s qualifications, Gardner said. Most officers did not have their own place because most of the officers are young, he said. McMillan worked to help the department get Kraft before he knew he would be the canine officer.
It was through Gardner and McMillan’s hard work that adding a police dog came at a low cost to taxpayers, Gardner said. The village contributed $3,100 and it took about $17-18,000 to get the program running.
Gardner is grateful to Mayor John Thebout and council for their support, he said.
The money that was not donated or from the village came from drug fund money, Gardner said.
The department had to purchase Kraft, pay for training, for window tinting and window guards for McMillan’s car, for a dog insert for the car, a canine first-aid box, life insurance for Kraft, software for training records and a canine uniform.
Line-X donated the window tinting and window guards, an officer from New Richmond donated the dog insert for McMillan’s car and Justin McMillan from Justin McMillan photography donated his time for photos of McMillan and Kraft, Gardner said. Family Animal Hospital is providing a free shots and an annual check up.
Auto Temp, Townescape, Moore’s Funeral Home, Barton’s Auto, Lee and Jack’s, JCM Equipment and The Parts Connection, Midwest Polaris, Craig Lytle Auctioneer, JT Loher Construction, Baxla Tractor, Kunz Equipment, Kathy Turner, Fraternal Order of Eagles, Red Barn and National Bank and Trust donated about $6,000 to the department, Gardner said.
The Batavia police also held a fundraiser at Grand Sands Volleyball in Loveland to raise money to build Kraft a dog kennel at McMillan’s house. They raised $2,000, part of which was used to purchase Kraft’s first aid box.