City Terminates K-9 Agreement

By Leah Williams

The Nashville City Council voted to terminate its agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police at its meeting on Thursday, June 6,

Nashville Police Officer Jared Wilke addressed the council during the public comment section of the meeting. Wilke said he and the dog finished training earlier this year and have been making strides about helping the community.

“He loves me, and I love him,” Wilke said during the meeting.

The issue at hand seems to be that Wilke had recently moved to a residence that is outside the city limits. Wilke said he became aware of the council’s intention to terminate and wanted to know more about the situation. Alderman Kelly Sheridan said the city has two agreements in place about whether a city-owned squad car is able to leave the city limits to an officer’s residence.

“Right now we have two conflicting agreements, and we can’t do both obviously,” Sheridan said. “So we need to change one or the other.”

One of the conflicting agreements was implemented back in 1999, where the FOP agreement was negotiated to stipulate that squad cars could not be taken out of a five or six mile ruling.

There is now 30 days for a new agreement to be drawn. Alderman Doug Hargan said once the current K-9 agreement is terminated, the city and the FOP can come to a “reasonable conclusion” in negotiations.

“We are not necessarily saying that the K-9 agreement is over,” Hargan said. “We are saying that this agreement the way it is worded we have to terminate it.”

“A lot of it is the wording in the contracts,” Alderman Josh Fark, who was acting mayor pro-tem that evening, said. “We can’t have two conflicting contracts.”

Wilke said he had been looking for a new place to live prior to learning that he would be the city’s K-9 officer. He added that his residence is near the north end of town near Enterprise Zone and interstate where a majority of calls for a dog to search are placed. He assures he is able to respond in a timely manner.

Wilke said he believes having a K-9 unit with the Nashville Police Department has had a positive impact on the community in keeping drugs off the streets.

“It is hard to measure deterrents, but he has had a major effect,” he said.

Also under Police, the council approved the purchase of nine bulletproof vests from Ray O’Herron. Police Chief Brian Fletcher was able to secure a grant that would pay for $3,622, that could be used for the equipment.

Other Items

Approximately 248 residents used the city’s recycling service in May, taking in 17,720 pounds or 8.6 tons.

The city council approved a second payment to Epco for the recoating of the city’s water towers, totaling $66,470.

The next city council meeting is Thursday, June 20.