If you see a City of Havre de Grace police car speeding down I-95, or even as far away as Baltimore's Beltway or Delaware, don't be surprised: It's probably one of the department's K-9 units being called to do some distant drug-sniffing.
In one recent example, a Havre de Grace K-9 unit was driving down I-95 near Route 543 on the evening of June 25 to assist a Maryland State Police call.
Havre de Grace officers say that happens all the time.
"Due to the limited number of available K-9 units in the region, other agencies request our K-9 units and we request K-9 units from other agencies," department spokesman Officer Jeff Gilpin wrote in an e-mail. "We are very fortunate to have two Nationally Certified K-9 units."
While sending units far out of Havre de Grace could seem like the department is going well beyond the bounds of its responsibility, Gilpin said that is not the case.
"Abuse of power and authority, no. Acting within the scope of our responsibility to work cooperatively and assist other agencies in the reduction of crime and illegal narcotics, yes," he wrote.
The department, which has twodogs in its K-9 unit, is not the only local police outfit that does this.
Havre de Grace Capt. Wayne Young said Bel Air and the Harford County Sheriff's Office also have K-9 units, and Aberdeen has had them in the past.
Havre de Grace, however, launched its K-9 division in 1963 and it is the oldest K-9 unit in the county.
"The assistance our K-9 unit provides neighboring jurisdictions is in a sense an 'in-kind service,'" Young explained in a letter. "Our K-9 units could be deployed to any location where their assistance would be timely and aid in the safety of the public. Typically, our K-9's will assist other agencies within Harford County when requested if other K-9 units are not available. The areas more often include the Edgewood and Aberdeen areas."
Young said the unit gets funding from the county's Joint Task Force for items like food, equipment and veterinary bills.
He also said the unit does not make up a substantial part of what the police department does, but is a specialized unit like any other.
The unit includes two dogs and two handlers, one for each dog, as each dog will only respond to commands given by its specific handler. The unit also has one corporal who supervises the unit, on top of handling many other duties around the department.
Young said there was no specific agreement to start having K-9's in Havre de Grace, as many other jurisdictions, including Rising Sun, Elkton and Maryland State Police, have their own.
"It was determined that there was a need based on volume of drug activity and the fact that the City of Havre de Grace is situated in direct proximity to Interstate 95 and Maryland Route 40, known drug trafficking arteries," Young said. "The K-9 unit aids in establishing probably cause for drug arrests, aid in apprehension of dangerous suspects, useful with crowd control during times of civil unrest, and are instrumental in locating missing persons such as a lost child. Having two K-9 officers within our own agency provides a service that is unmatched by any other type of specialty."
Ultimately, Young and Gilpin said, the K-9 unit is just one of many ways the department partners with other agencies from around the state and region to protect the public.
"We rely on the Maryland State Police Crime Lab for narcotics and evidence testing, as well as their Aviation Unit if so needed. We rely on the Harford Sheriff's Office corrections system for processing of arrestees, the Harford County Joint Narcotics Task Force for some narcotics investigations, the Harford County Sheriff's Office Special Response Team and the Aberdeen Police Department's SWAT Team for conducting search warrants, and multiple other agencies for assistance during special events such as the annual Fourth of July parade and fireworks," Young said.