The purchase of K9 Rumba by Officer Peter Neal

Dear Sir:

The purpose of this response is to address City Council Order #1, dated December 19, 2016 whereby you were requested to confer with the Police Department regarding Officer Peter Neal’s retirement and options available on his desire to allow K9 Rumba to also retire. Deputy Superintendent Stephen A. Ahern is the Commanding Officer of the Tactical Operations section, and his responsibility is to maintain continuity of operations for the Explosive Ordnance unit to which Officer Neal and K9 Rumba are assigned.

We truly understand the bond that develops between a handler and the assigned K9 partner, but we must deny Officer Neal’s request to have K9 Rumba retire with him. K9 Rumba has just turned four (4) years of age, has served with the unit for less than three (3) years, and has an additional four (4) to six (6) years of future service.

As of this moment, K9 Rumba’s estimated value is between $20,00.00 - $25,000.00, which includes purchase price, initial 10-12-week training period, with an additional thirty (30) months of in-service training and more importantly real time work experience. According to the Inspector General’s (IG) Office, K9 Rumba is considered City “property” and is subject to c. 30B rules on the disposal of surplus property. If the City decides to sell K9 Rumba, c. 30B provisions must be followed.

In terms of training a new handler, we will be able to re-home (assign) K9 Rumba with the new handler within a 5-6-week training period.

If K9 Rumba were released to Officer Neal upon his retirement, it would require the purchase of a “green dog;” the training for the new dog would be a 10-12-week period and does not guarantee the new dog will meet the minimum standards—which would then require the purchase of another “green dog.” Moreover, it should be noted that we have another officer in the unit set to retire in April of this year.

If we were to set the precedent of allowing serviceable K9 dogs to retire with their handlers, we would lose another K9 effectively reducing the operational readiness of the Explosive Ordnance unit by 40%. ADDRESS ALL COMMUNICATIONS TO 125 SIXTH STREET, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02142 ADDRESS ALL COMMUNICATIONS TO 125 SIXTH STREET, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02142 In addition, as you may recall, this Explosive Ordnance unit was started a few years ago with UASI funds.

As such, we are part of a regional team comprised of nine (9) communities and the K9 dogs are considered a regional asset to be called upon when and if needed. Therefore, this decision would affect not only the City of Cambridge but also the entire UASI region. Specifically, 44 C.F.R. 13.32 provides guidance and supports the City’s decision to retain K9 Rumba because it is of value and not past its useful life.

By way of background, at the implementation of the Explosive Ordnance unit in 2014 Deputy Superintendent Ahern and Sergeant Edward Frammartino (Unit Commander) sat with each prospective officer prior to selection and informed those officers that upon them leaving the unit the K9 would not be allowed to go with the officer, all officers understood this prior to being selected for the unit.

In regards to Officer Neal, he has chosen to retire, a decision I respect but a decision that he has made should not adversely impact the unit, city or region. It would be fiscally as well as operationally irresponsible if we allowed K9 Rumba to retire with Officer Neal at an age where K9 Rumba is operationally at his best.

The council order makes mention of other agencies allowing K9 dogs to retire with the handler, other agencies only allow K9 dogs to retire with the handler if the K9 is deemed to be non-serviceable, something K9 Rumba is not.

The average working life span of a single purpose (Explosive Detection) K9 dog is between eight (8) and eleven (11) years, with the most productive years being between four (4) and eight (8) years of age (Rumba just turned 4 years old), this is the time when the dog is considered to be in his/her “prime” and considered to be the best years of the dog. Police agencies such as Boston, MBTA, and State Police re-home their dogs with another handler when a retirement, resignation, or promotion out of the unit occurs.

Most recently the MBTA Police Department re-homed a 6 1/2-year-old dog due to the handler resigning from the department. In closing I would like to say we understand the bond that occurs between K9 and handler, however it would not be in the best interest of the City or the region to allow Officer Neal to take K9 Rumba with him upon retirement. We of course would not be opposed and actually would encourage in having Officer Neal and Rumba visit with each other as many times as Officer Neal would like.

I hope you find that this information sufficiently addresses this City Council Order, and if there are any additional questions or concerns regarding this matter, please let me know. Respectfully submitted, Brent B. Larrabee

Police Commissioner