Goodrich-Thanks to some leftover Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) funds a new sheriff dog will be named after a local village founder.
On June 8, the village council OK’d $10,792 held over in the village D.A.R.E. account to purchase a police dog for the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department. Due to budget cuts at the federal level, funding for D.A.R.E., which was founded in 1983 and taught by trained uniformed officers in elementary and middle schools, was gradually discontinued locally.
‘We had a fund balance in the village D.A.R.E. account for about 10 years,? said Jakki Sidge, village manager. ‘We are very limited where that money can be spent.?
As a result of the donation, the new police dog will be named ‘Levi? after Levi Goodrich, a village founder who settled in the area about 1835 after traveling from New York.
The new police dog is needed to replace ‘Uzi? who retired along with his handler, Genesee County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Antcliff, in 2010.
Genesee County Undersheriff Chris Swanson said current Genesee County Paramedic Deputy Justin Hunt will be the new handler for Levi.
‘The dog will be for drugs and tracking purposes,? he said. ‘Justin will start training in late September in a four week school. The money from D.A.R.E., along with drug forfeiture money, will fund the dog and training.?