Grant to police department will pay for 2 new Greenwood K-9 officers

GREENWOOD, Ind. (WISH) — A Greenwood business is showing support for local police officers through a large grant.

Firehouse Subs near Greenwood Park Mall just announced it’s granting $20,000 to pay for two K-9 officer dogs. The Greenwood Police Department has been down two K-9s since two of their dogs retired recently.

Instead of dipping into tax dollars to replace them, the sandwich shop and its generous customers are footing the bill.

“We have a public safety foundation that we raise money to give back to first responders through,” Greenwood Firehouse Subs Owner Ken Cain said.

The restaurant has a couple ways for its customers to donate.

“We have a round up program where we ask the customers if they’d like to round their bill up to the next whole dollar,” he said.

The difference goes into the foundation’s fund. There is also a traditional donation bin in the restaurant.

“That adds up to support the police department in a big way,” Greenwood Police Department Officer Kortney Burrello said.

The $20,000 grant announced Friday will help with the cost of two new police dogs.

“Just to purchase a K-9, just the dog itself, is $10,000 per dog,” she said.

She said it’s very important to have a K-9 available on each shift for the safety of the human officers and the public.

“Just having that asset for the police department is one more thing to help keep us safe in the community,” Cain said.

This grant has been in the works for months, but Cain’s happy it was awarded during such a tough time for officers across the country.

“The timing couldn’t have been any better from the standpoint of something positive happening,” he said.

Burrello wears the black band on her badge in memory of fallen officers. She is grateful for the show of support for the department at this time in history.

“It shows that the citizens care about us as police officers because they’re continuing to give back,” she explained.

Greenwood police currently don’t have enough dogs to cover their four shifts, and they often have to borrow dog teams from other Indianapolis area police departments.

The new K-9s will be apprehension and tracking dogs, and they’re expected to be on the force by the end of the year.

Two Greenwood officers will have several weeks of training with their new partners.