Police - Canine Friend for Niko

Police seek funding for additional K9 (Daily Journal)

The Burlingame Police Department is currently seeking community funding to help with the purchase of a second dog for their K9 program.

The department estimates that the cost for a police service dog, related equipment, training and maintenance would be approximately $10,000. There is insufficient funding in the police budget for the 2007-2008 year to cover this cost. The Burlingame department currently has one dog, a male German Shepherd named Niko, who is used mainly for search and detection purposes. It's not so much a matter of Niko being stretched too thin,? said K9 Sgt. Jeff Downs. It's that Niko works with a handler, and when the handler's shift is done, then there are other shifts without K9 coverage.? Dogs like Niko aid the police in tracking criminals who are fleeing on foot. They can also search vans and residences for narcotics and explosives. When Niko is not on duty, the Burlingame department is without this type of aid. The addition of a second dog would allow the police to have K9 coverage all week. The dogs are really a visual deterrent,? said Downs. People look at Niko and think, That dog could find me.'?

The department is asking the Burlingame community to donate to the Police Department K9 Fund. This money would not only allow the purchase of a second dog but also help plan for the future of [the] canine program,? according to the department. Ideally, we'd like to see more dogs and more interaction with the community,? said Downs. We'd like to diversify the program and diversify the dogs.? At one point, the department had up to four dogs, several of which worked in a more proactive, community-related capacity. The K9 program often gave demonstrations at local events at schools; the dogs' activities included searching lockers to imitate drug investigations.

If it receives sufficient funding for multiple dogs, the department would like to host more of these events. The program would also like a dog trained specifically in the detection of explosives. The options are limitless,? said Downs.

Donations can be made to: Burlingame Police Department K9 Fund, Burlingame Police Department, 1111 Trousdale Drive, Burlingame, Calif., 94010. All donations may be tax deductible.

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I vote for the budget item of $10,000 to paint the old white City Hall cupola be painted by volunteers and those monies be redirected to a friend for Niko!

- Written by Fiona

Comments

[fred]

$10,000 to paint the small piece of wood in the parking lot next to blockbuster? Did that require a study first?

Makes me wonder how much those centennial banners put all over town cost.

Ten grand to paint 100 square feet...makes sense...if we're painting it in gold and platinum.

I am sure it will require an historic study - should it be mustard color!?

I suggested to one of our councilmembers that a group of us could easily "cover" (with paint) that expense but I do not know if there are any structural needs that have to be done.

A new community group - A Cupola for a K-9?!

The only issue could be lead paint due to the age. $10,000? That seems very high. Is there a bid by someone that details the work? Or is just another arbitrary number.

At that price, I vote for a friend for Niko.

[Overtaxed]

Fred: The CIty of Burlingame is not funding any Centennial celebrations. The street banners that you've seen around town are being funded by sponsorships from the business community in Burlingame. ALthough the city has a $50,000 fund set aside for the centennial, they have decided not to spend it on Centennial celebrations. If any money has to come out of that fund to pay Centennial bills, it must be returned to the city coffers from profits generated from celebration events and/or the sale of Centennial memorbelia. Maybe they'll use some of that money to provide free parking for its citizens during the holidays, but don't hold your breath on that one.

Which Burlingame business sponsored the banners for funding?

[fred]

It's a lot of banners how much did they cost? If it's ten grand to paint a small tower, the fee for the banners could be substantial.

One of the local papers should do a piece about the 10 grand cupola painting. They could stand in front of the cupola and ask random people two (technically three) questions:

A) The qualifier: Have you lived in this area for a long time and have you been on this street frequently? Continue only if the answer to both parts is yes.

B) Have you ever noticed this cupola behind me and do you know when they put it in?

I would guess that over half the people will say they have never seen the cupola before and have no idea when it got there. I might be willing to bet nine out of ten people would have never noticed it. I didn't notice it until I read about it on this blog. Of course, if you stand there at the exact moment a CBB meeting is exiting the Burlingame Women's Club the ratio might get skewed. I'm not suggesting to get rid of the cupola, but painting it for $10,000.00??

A new K-9 dog could do some good deterring crime.

Canines over cupolas!!!

Fred, you will be heartened to know that at the Centennial Parade a certain 2nd grade class used the cupola as part of their Centennial (winning) poster entry so these very young Burlingamers know where the "historic cupola" is and that it is part of Burlingame's "history"!

If the Burlingame Historical Society does not want to take on this renovation project of such historical significance, its time for the citizens of Burlingame to rise up and encourage our money to go towards more worthwhile causes - a dog which could help our police department - and a group of us can paint the darn cupola thing in an afternoon!

As you know, I had taken on an early interest (well over a year ago) in restoring the Cupola. The Cenntenial commitee was looking for ideas that went beyond placing bricks in the sidewalks. I presented the idea of restoring the Cupola and potentially moving it out of the parking lot, and closer to the triangle between City Hall and the Library. There are parts of that idea that many liked, and parts that would not work. One is that the Cupola is currently sitting at the spot of the old city hall, and therefore stands as a landmark. Good point. The Historical Society also puts on fantastic tours that include this landmark.

But, my main idea was to at the very least restore it. I researched costs and scope of work. It will take more than a little paint and an afternoon to really restore it.

Giving it a top coat is a bandaid. And maybe that's all we can afford right now. I'm just saying that with the peeling paint, sanding/stripping is needed, and there may be lead based paint involved. Anyone will tell you that a decent paint job is in the preparation. This is a landmark, not a garbage can.

I've already said that $10 grand seems high, too high, and if that's the number, it should go to the dog.

Considering the numberous historic projects that need attention in this town, I do not see how the Burlingame Historical Society can support all these efforts with their budget and volunteers without a strong alliance with the City of Burlingame, the citizens, CBB, and all other organizations in the city.

Was the Historical Society approached by the City with the idea of a partnership to restore it?

Would putting a painted "bandaid" on a landmark rather than a garbage can be a lot more fun?!

It might be more meaningful to spend $10,000 on a police aid than a band(aid)ed historical relic but many of us (in or out of a volunteer group) would happily prepare, strip off old (lead) paint and paint with an historical color if we knew $10,000 could be redirected to a more worthy cause.

On the other hand, maybe this project could be added to Mrs. Keighran's Downtown Clean Up Committee To Do list, though, in my opionion, this should be a project for another group. But with the DCupC we know it will get done - quickly and efficently.

As I've said, agree on the police aid!

From the original story:
It's not so much a matter of Niko being stretched too thin,? said K9 Sgt. Jeff Downs. It's that Niko works with a handler, and when the handler's shift is done, then there are other shifts without K9 coverage.?

Doesn't this imply a shortage of trained handlers? How will another dog help address this? Maybe there is a need for training enough handlers to make optimal use of the existing dog?

[fred]

Well, it took the banners being stolen to find out how much they cost -- $180 a piece!

Channel 2 news story this morning said a lady saw two young men scaling the lightposts on June 8th most likely when all the banners were stolen off of Broadway Ave. It's pretty funny that it took ten days for anyone to notice the banners were missing!

So what company made the $180 banners? Any crickets know?

[fred]

Do you think the Panda-Panda sock monkey had anything to do with this?.

There is an article in the Burlingame Daily News today about the missing banners.

No, I picture it being two small homeless people who needed "Anson" and "Station" hammocks to sleep peacefully up in our trees and, as soon as the hammocks were discovered, the banners would be donated by our Parks people to Burlingame's future $1.1 million dollar museum. But, Fred, your idea was more colorful!

The banners are beautiful but why would thieves steal five or six. Nothing on Ebay so perhaps it was just juvenile pranksters?

[stephena]

$180 + labor to install (and remove) + cost of any missing clips to hang them.

And really, they're not very attractive. Who got the idea of purple and orange for our centennial colors.