MAYOR PUTS BITE ON DRUG DOG AND REASON

Our view: New Hope's mayor has tied a leash around use of the police
department's drug-sniffing dog - apparently as punishment for the dog's
handler. It's a spiteful move that wastes an effective police tool.

The New Hope Police Department has a proven law enforcement tool that an
officer is trained to use, but due to a combination of stubbornness and
apparent spitefulness has been placed on a leash.

Gunner, the drug-sniffing dog, was trained at the expense of the district
attorney's Drug Forfeiture Fund. And the dog's handler, Officer Frank
DeLuca, was trained at taxpayer expense in the form of overtime pay. It is
a cost that has not paid off for New Hope citizens because Mayor Laurence
Keller seems more interested in enforcing his own law than the law of the land.

Keller, the civilian boss of the police department, won't allow the dog to
be used for two very flimsy reasons: 1) that the borough lacks liability
insurance for the dog; 2) that the police department lacks a policy on how
to use the dog.

Point 1 seems completely unfounded if not entirely fabricated. A check of
other departments elicited bewilderment from police chiefs who said they
were unaware of any requirement for special, drug-dog liability coverage.

Point 2 seems utterly ridiculous. If the mayor wants a policy, he should
ask police department administrators to write one. If for some reason that
can't be accomplished, here's a policy we wrote and will gladly allow the
mayor to swipe: Drug-sniffing dog policy - Use dog to sniff out illicit drugs.

It's yours, Mayor. No charge and no need for a thank you letter.

But if that won't do and the chief insists on retaining his unreasonable
ban, he appears to have little choice but to allow other police departments
to use the dog. According to District Attorney Diane Gibbons, her office
pays to train dogs with the clear understanding that the dog and its
handler must be made available to other departments.

What's not so clear is the real reason for the mayor's muddleheaded
mandate. But try this out. Seems that Officer DeLuca had testified in an
unemployment hearing for a former officer seeking payment from the borough.
The day after DeLuca testified, Mayor Keller yanked DeLuca and Gunner out
of the training program. The training was reinstated when a new police
chief was hired. He stayed on for only six months.

Lucky him.

Our suggestion to the mayor: Get your nose out of police business and put
Gunner's to work.