An Indiana police department is turning to the Internet to raise money for a second K-9 unit.
The small town of Winchester is home to just over 5,000 people. But, thousands more pass through every week on state and federal highways.
Police say some of them are driving a big problem into town.
"Right now, all of these places are main drop off points, main distribution points for heroin, marijuana, different things of that nature," says Officer Brandon Barndollar. "So, we have these smaller roads that the drug couriers typically want to take because they're not going to see as many police officers on them."
Barndollar spends much of his time on those roads – hoping to catch drugs before they make their way into neighboring communities and states.
He has some help from his four-legged partner Leo, who he's been working with since 2013.
In many ways, it's like playing a more sophisticated game of fetch.
Leo is trained to sniff out several different types of narcotics. If he detects something in a car, he will stop at that spot and stare.
"That gives me reasonable, probable cause to search the vehicle at that point without having to get a warrant or anything," Barndollar says.
Leo helps with narcotics cases up to six times a day, in addition to his regular patrol work.
Drug trafficking has become such a big problem in Winchester that the police department wants to get a second K-9 unit.
"I can't be available everyday for 24 hours a day," Barndollar says. "So, to us, we see the increase in our overdoses, we see the increase in the drug use and crime in our area. And, one of the biggest tools we have to combat that is a dog."
But, getting a second K-9 unit will cost the department about $20,000 up front.
That's a large price tag considering they don't even have a budget for Leo. They rely on donations.
And, this time, the Winchester Police Department is asking people outside of the immediate community to help through an online fundraiser on GoFundMe.
"We turned to the Internet because it's not a problem just here. If I stop a car load of drugs that's going northbound on 27, I may have just saved Jay County or Allen County or somewhere like that from getting a load of dope in their city."
The department still has about $13,000 to go before it reaches its goal.
