The Oakwood Police Department has retired one of its two K-9 units.
Chief Tim Hatch told the Oakwood City Council at their Monday meeting that while the dog, Rico, is still under retirement age, his handler, Sergeant Jay Ivey, is being promoted to Lieutenant which makes it a good time to let him retire.
"(Lt. Ivey) is not going to be out on the road to handle the dog and the dog has been in service for a pretty significant period of time," Hatch said.
Rico was the first K-9 unit the department brought in when Hatch took over as Chief three years ago. He will now be left in the personal care of Lt. Ivey who said he's glad to get to take him home.
"My last K-9 retired when she was 8 and she passed away last August when she was 15. I take care of my babies," Ivey said. "(Rico) is a wonderful dog."
Hatch said while he eventually plans to bring in another K-9 unit, their other unit, Ikon, is still actively in the field. He said the department is looking to solidify other positions first, with one of those being filled by the promotion of Lt. Ivey.
He said that it will be important, however, to eventually bring in a second K-9 unit.
"By having two teams, we're guaranteed to have a dog and a handler out every day at some portion of time during the day," Hatch said.
