Last year, former Ventnor Police Chief Doug Biagi decided to get rid of the city’s K9 patrol. Biagi believed these highly trained dogs, 4 legged cops, were no longer needed.
Defunding and elimination of the Ventnor K9 patrols was seen as a costing cutting measure.
A year later, Mayor Beth Holtzman now wants Ventnor to reinstall it’s K9 cop division.
Feedback suggests that NJ Gov Phil Murphy’s social justice efforts and the misguided ‘defund police’ movement may have played a role in this public safety cut back.
Mayor Beth Holtzman wants K9 patrols for what she refers to as ‘shady areas’ in Ventnor.
For ‘shits n giggles’, Holtzman would like to see neighboring K9 patrols spend some time in the Ventnor WAWA parking lot. Watch some scatter like cockroaches. (watch video)
Mayor Holtzman: K9’s can out-run juveniles looking to escape via beach or boardwalk.
Landgraf was not pleased. Why did Mayor Beth bring this up in public before deeper discussion with the Police Chief?
Ventnor Mayor Wants K9 Patrols to Return.
See more Ventnor Mayor Beth Holtzman news here.
This is appalling. “Out run juveniles”? Out run them for what? A K9 is a weapon. Why are we using them on kids?
Sounds like a good way for multi-million dollar lawsuits.
As we have seen over the past couple years, juveniles now think they can get away with anything, including murder. Welcoming K-9s back again will absolutely be a deterrent!
Which Ventnor juveniles have thought they could get away with literal murder? The trouble with an absurd exaggeration is that people will call you on it.
Calling young people (or anyone) “cockroaches” is deeply offensive. The Mayor should retract her statement and be more careful with her words. We’re talking about human beings, people’s children.
I appreciated the Mayor sharing her remarks in a public meeting. All too often, public policy is hashed out and issues are decided before the public has an opportunity to hear both sides. An after-the-fact public comment period does no good when your elected officials have already made up their minds in private meetings.
Secondly, this article seems a bit one- sided. I was at the meeting and Mayor Holtzman started out by talking about the value of K-9 for search and rescue. She stated that on average 80 children are lost on our beaches per year.
Commissioner Kreibel reports there were 8 lost children just on the day of the airshow. It happened to me once- and it is frightening. We were extremely lucky, but many families across the country are not if the child is not found quickly.
Personally, I would feel secure to know that a dog would be available to enhance a search for my child or grandchild. K-9 units would also help with our aging population. There is a probability of a higher number of lost and confused seniors as time goes on, to paraphrase the Mayor.
I also learned at the meeting that our new police chief is focusing on community policing. I think that is great! K9 units, tho, are not incompatible with community policing when done properly.
Dogs are a weapon that people respect. It cuts down on the use of police use of force and the chance of police brutality. According to my retired-from-another-small-town- police-sergeant-brother-in-law, NJ has one of the best K9 training programs in the country where officers learn to use K9 as an effective tool.
I don’t know if we should re- establish K9 units in Ventnor or not, but is sure worth discussing.
I agree with everything you wrote and if it saves even one life it is worth it.
Atlantic City PD has paid MILLIONS to victims of wrongful police K9 attacks. Why would we implement something that clearly has problems? I just don’t buy the “safer alternative” narrative.
Ventnor is NOT a war zone. It’s a family seaside community. We don’t need SWAT teams to control some teenagers being teenagers.
A K9 can do a lot more than and aren’t limited to apprehension. The sight alone of a K9 can prevent and deescalate a situation. Their nose for weapons, explosives and narcotics is a huge asset to many communities. Some departments just have dogs that do that type of nosework and then they aren’t exposed to any excessive force accusations or litigation whether true or not.
A tank would be a good visual deterrent too. Should we get one of those?
Do we have cartels moving shipments of drugs down Atlantic Ave? Maybe I missed it.
Get real, people. This is not a war zone. This is a waste of tax dollars so that the PD can have a new toy to play with. Ventnor’s taxes are already nauseating. Maybe stop wasting money on dumb stuff.
Yep, need K-9 squads for dog pooping violations and bike theft and electric scooters on the BW..
Can u figure out any better waste of money?
How about mobi mats across the dunes instead?
Please.
k 9 it a great idea !!!!!!!! lets go for it…..