Sandwich’s first police dog being retired because of health problems

Since first starting with the Sandwich Police Department in 2016, Diesel – the department’s first police dog – has proved to be a valuable asset for the department.

“Diesel made his mark in just his first few days on the job assisting the Kendall County Cooperative Police Assistance Team at a residence where Diesel helped locate 185 grams of cocaine and 2,500 grams of cannabis that were hidden,” Sandwich Mayor Todd Latham said.

Because Diesel has developed health problems, it has been determined that the dog is ready for retirement. The Sandwich City Council on July 3 approved an ordinance to retire Diesel. The city bought Diesel in 2016 after receiving a state grant.

Before approving the ordinance, Diesel was promoted to sergeant.

“In respect for Diesel’s career with us, we’re going to promote him to sergeant,” Latham said.

As Latham said, the first service dog – Sergeant Stubby – was in the U.S. Army in World War I and participated in 17 battles.

“From that point on, it was determined that dogs have the ability to assist us humans in our performance,” Latham said. “And then, around 1938, police started using K-9 dogs as part of police dog units.”

K-9 Officer Keith Rominski, who has worked with Diesel since he first started with the department, is taking ownership of the dog. Diesel is between 8 and 9 years old.

“He is the officer who played a key role in the research and the development of the program,” Latham said.

It was recently discovered that Diesel has arthritis.

“It just became time where we couldn’t get him to a comfortable level of health,” Latham said after the meeting. “And because of that, we didn’t want the dog to suffer and be in pain.”

As to whether department will work to get another police dog, Latham said that could be a decision for the department’s next police chief. In May, the Sandwich City Council hired Rick Bleichner as interim police chief after deciding not to renew the contract of Sandwich Police Chief Jim Bianchi, who had served as Sandwich police chief since September 2013.

The city found Bleichner through the Illinois Association of Police Chiefs, which it also is using to find a permanent chief. Bleichner’s contract is for four months or until the city hires a new police chief.

“We do have other resources,” Latham said. “We could call either Kendall or DeKalb counties. They have dogs, as well, we can use through their sheriff’s departments.”

Diesel will retire later this month, he said.