McKees Rock’s new K9 on the street thanks to community support

MCKEES ROCKS, Pa. — On the job and on the streets is where you will find Roman and his new handler Officer William Kelly.

“He’s been out of the car for search warrants and run a couple cars, but we are slowly working into things and still learning together and learning each other,” Kelly said.

Now having a K9 team is a new asset for McKees Rocks Borough after years of fundraising.

“You know as well as I do, we are on the news a lot for not the best of reasons, to have a young officer with a K9 dog is nothing but extra security down here. We had a young officer who wanted to do this and took the bull by the horns, and it just helps our town,” said Archie Brinza who’s the Borough President.

It wouldn’t be possible without the town as the Borough and Police Department did years of fundraising to get the over $80,000 to purchase Roman and get him and Kelly trained.

“He’s a dual-purpose narcotics K9, so tracking, apprehension and articles,” Kelly said.

With two months on the job, Roman is still learning the lay of the land, but a big focus for this department is drugs and deterrence.

“We have a prevalence of narcotics in town whether it’s usage or the sale of narcotics,” Kelly said.

As this team progresses, the hope is not just do the work, but be part of the community too.

“Just the presence of a K9 being in town is going to deter crime, but also who doesn’t like dogs so me being able to go out and whether it’s talking to adults or children about the K9, I think is going to bring us together a little more,” Kelly said.

There are some ongoing yearly costs with Roman, so if you are interested in becoming a sponsor and getting involved in fundraising you can reach out to the Borough or the Police Department.

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