Published: October 15, 2008 10:40 pm      

Bomb threat evacuates school, after county retires K-9s

Chief deputy says dogs cost too much, were hardly utilized

Beckley’s Park Middle School was evacuated Wednesday for a bomb threat, authorities said, but the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Department’s bomb-sniffing dog often utilized in such emergencies was not at their disposal.

Beckley police Cpl. Will Reynolds said someone had written, “I will bomb the school at 10/16/08 at 1:05 p.m.” on a boys restroom wall. A staff member called police.

Students and staff were moved to the football field before police arrived, Reynolds said. Since the sheriff’s office no longer has a bomb-sniffing dog, Reynolds called the State Police and was told troopers may not be able to get a dog to the scene. The next option was calling authorities in Fayette County.

Apparently, State Police Cpl. A.D. Palmateer, who handles a bomb-sniffing dog, heard what was happening and came to the scene with his Belgian Malinois, Rock, Reynolds said. Palmateer did a thorough and “impressive” search, but Rock did not indicate explosives were present.

Students were sent back inside the building and police left the scene around 1:30 p.m., Reynolds said. The investigation is ongoing.

Chief Deputy Steve Tanner said both the department’s bomb-sniffing dog Reco and narcotics-trained dog Sammy have been retired. Reco’s handler, Cpl. Stan Ellison, has also retired himself.

Both Ellison and Sammy’s handler, Deputy Roger Bircham, kept their dogs. Once police K-9s are retired, officers who keep them take them in as their personal pets.

Costs for maintaining a K-9 unit are extremely high, Tanner said, and the department’s number of calls severely limited the amount of work the dogs could do. By law, K-9 officers must receive a half hour of overtime per day. Then there is tens of thousands of dollars spent on special vehicles — with poor fuel economy — equipment and training.

On top of that, the 911 call load was too high and manpower was too low for the K-9 officers to do much work with their dogs, Tanner said. Instead, they were having to answer constant routine calls. Success was limited.

“I don’t think for a second that these deputies weren’t giving their all,” Tanner said. “But they can’t (also) be taking 911 calls, handling car wrecks and backing up other deputies.

“There were zero drug interdictions. They just haven’t been allowed.”

The dogs were also aging, Tanner said.

According to archives at The Register-Herald, the sheriff’s department bought Reco in May 2006 after its former bomb-sniffing dog died. Reco’s exact age was not available Wednesday. Numerous businesses made donations toward Reco’s $8,500 price tag.

According to another Register-Herald story, an October 2000 bomb threat at Raleigh General Hospital that turned into a six-hour ordeal while officials waited for a bomb-sniffing dog to arrive was the catalyst for the county to buy Maxim.

Tanner said bomb dogs are good to have on hand, but they are luxuries, not necessities. In the meantime, other K-9 officers from the state Division of Forestry, State Police and Beckley police can be called upon if needed. The sheriff’s department’s K-9 situation will be re-evaluated at an undetermined time.

Beckley Police Chief Tim Deems said the State Police’s bomb-sniffing dog arrived at the scene Wednesday in five to 10 minutes and the State Police’s bomb dogs, as well as one in Fayette County, can be utilized if such a dog is needed. There are no plans for the city to purchase a bomb-sniffing dog of its own. The city does not have enough bomb-related calls to justify the cost.

Beckley P.D. and the sheriff’s department have had a mutual aid agreement in effect for some time, and sheriff’s deputies can call upon city K-9 officers if they are needed, Deems said. However, city police must also handle its own calls.

“We must handle the concerns here in Beckley first,” Deems said. “That is our main priority. If we are available when they need assistance, that will be no problem.”

— E-mail: apridemore@register-herald.com