Round Lake Park welcomes new police dog

ROUND LAKE PARK – Chief Daniel Burch and the members of the Round Lake Park Police Department welcomed the newest Round Lake Park officer, K-9 Gunny.

Gunny is a 10-month-old AKC German shepherd that was donated to the Round Lake Park Police Department by Ellis and Ellis Consultants through their Project Safe and Secure program.

Round Lake Park has a long history of deploying police K-9s, starting in 1999, when Burch, at the time an officer, was selected to be the department’s first K-9 handler. Since then, the department has had three other K-9s, with the last retiring in 2016.

“We have been interested in obtaining another K-9 to serve Round Lake Park, and when needed the surrounding communities, for some time,” Burch said in a news release. “The biggest challenge initially has been finding an officer that was interested in becoming a handler to work with a police dog. It takes a huge amount of time and commitment on the part of a handler. We now have two highly qualified and experienced officers that are eager to work with Gunny that are currently going through a selection process.

“Gunny will be evaluated by TOPS Kennels in Grayslake to help determine the best handler characteristics he needs to be the best possible K-9,” Burch said. “Once that has been done, TOPS will help the Round Lake Park Police Department select the best officer.”

Burch first learned of the possibility of a K-9 donation when he, along with the other association members, received a notification from the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police on Feb. 16 that a purebred German shepherd K-9 was available for donation.

“We immediately expressed our interested in being considered for the donation as we had just started the process for getting a K-9 this fall,” Burch said. “The timing was perfect.”

After waiting for almost two months, Burch, along with six other Illinois law enforcement agencies, received notification from Ellis and Ellis Consultants saying they had three K-9s they were donating to law enforcement agencies across Illinois.

Burch met with Ron Ellis and Dr. Sandra Ellis in Mount Pulaski, where he had the opportunity to meet the three K-9s.

“It was a tough decision, but ultimately we felt Gunny would be the best choice for Round Lake Park,” Burch said. “Gunny is valued at $15,000, which is a huge savings to the village of Round Lake Park as we start our K-9 program back up. We are grateful to Ron and Sandra for their very generous donation. This is a wonderful example of public-private partnerships as part of an Illinois safe community initiative.”

Gunny will be attending training at TOPS Kennels starting in June. The first eight weeks of his training will teach him the basics of being a police K-9. After the initial training, Gunny and his handler will complete the 400-hour state certification course. Gunny initially will be trained in tracking, area searches and illicit narcotics detection.

In an effort to support the ongoing expenses of a police K-9 program, the Round Lake Park Police Department is applying for K-9 specific grant funding and also is accepting monetary donations that will be used to cover the purchase of special K-9 equipment, food, health care and training.

Generous monetary donations already have been received including from Dr. Koryn Swearingen and the Village Veterinary Clinic team in Grayslake, who have committed to work with Round Lake Park in providing care for Gunny.

Anyone interested in donating to the K-9 program can visit the Round Lake Park Police Department’s Facebook page or stop at the Round Lake Park Police Department, 215 E. Main St., for information. All donations are used to support the Round Lake Park K-9 programs.