Gainesboro Police Building K-9 Program

Gainesboro Police beginning the process of establishing a K-9 unit to detect narcotics.

Police Chief Michael Smith said the program would cost a sum of $12,500. Smith said the department will go through a 6-8 week training in Kentucky to prepare the unit.

“The way I look at it is it will be very beneficial for the town of Gainesboro and its citizens,” Smith said. “If we get one drug dealer off the streets or any dope at all off the streets you know, that one stop is well worth any cost that we have for a K-9 I believe.”

Smith said the unit will not have any bite dogs. Smith said the unit will have some training in tracking to help with searches for missing people.

“If we have a small child that runs off or an elder adult it’s going to have some tracking ability,” Smith said. “It won’t be its main purpose cause narcotics will be its main purpose but it will be able to do some small tracking.”

Gainesboro Alderwoman Beth Young said she was for the program as K-9 units have been beneficial in locating missing people in East Tennessee.

“With all of the things that we have seen in the past week just with the weather situations and search dogs being able to help,” Young said. “I think that hit my heart really well knowing that we could save one to two lives. That just meant a lot to me.”

Mayor Lloyd Williams said the K-9 unit will allow the department to do their job.