Geneseo Mayor Richard Hatheway announced Monday that the services of 5-year-old police dog ‘Rosko’ will be dropped in June, when the village’s 2012-13 fiscal year budget goes into effect.
Rosko’s presence on the force costs village taxpayers approximately $5,000 annually, an amount for which, in a tight budget year, “is hard to justify the cost effectiveness,” the mayor said.
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In his three year career with the Geneseo Police Department, Rosko has been put onto 48 cases. However, 28 of those have been outside the jurisdiction of the village, so are deemed not to have benefited village taxpayers. In the past year in the village, Rosko was directly involved in only two arrests, the mayor noted.
One of the arrests involved drug sales. In the other, Rosko was instrumental in solving a rash of burglaries taking place at The Meadows.
Mayor Hatheway agreed that cutting the police department canine handling program is the most conspicuous service elimination in the 2012-13 budget.
Rosko’s handler, Officer Jason Yasso, will continue his other police duties, but will no longer be accompanied by Rosko.
Mayor Hatheway revealed that Rosko, as a soon-to-be surplus asset owned by the village, must be placed for auction to the highest bidder. Police dogs ordinarily have a five-to-eight year active career, between ages 2 and 10. Rosko, at age 5, theoretically has three-to-five good years ahead of him.
However, Geneseo Police Department inquires to other law enforcement agencies across the United States have thus far failed to turn up any interested buyer. Mayor Hatheway emphasized that Rosko is an asset of value for which the village must receive remuneration. However, Hatheway does not discount the possibility that Officer Yasso, who has kept Rosko as a pet in his home, could be the purchaser.
Rosko is a Belgian Malinois breed. His presence on the Geneseo police force was funded in part by grants from former state senator Dale Volker and Assemblyman Daniel Burling.
Rosko has been able to provide the Geneseo Police Department with valuable services including crime deterrence through foot patrols, building checks and searches, the latter minimizing danger to officers; working with the school in drug deterrence programs; public relations demonstrations; narcotic detection; tracking lost individuals; apprehending criminal suspects; conducting search and recovery for evidence; and officer protection.
The Livingston County Sheriff’s Department has canine services which will replace those currently being provided in Geneseo by Rosko
