ROAD PATROL

Canine (K9) Unit

The K-9 Unit is a valuable asset to the Butler County Sheriff’s Office as well as other agencies within the county. Four specially trained deputies work with the canines every day they are on duty. The handlers and canines attend specialized training together to perform their duties which include illegal narcotics detection, building searches, vehicle searches, crowd control, and tracking suspects or fugitives who flee on foot.

The unit trains sixteen (16) hours a month to maintain proficiency in performing the skills associated with their duties and are on call 24 hours a day.

Deputy Dog Warden Unit

Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones, as Dog Warden, is committed to serving the community by protecting the health, safety and welfare of animals. BCSO’s Deputy Dog Wardens are primarily focused on domestic animal issues and the enforcement of dog laws. They are also certified humane officers.

In their role as Dog Warden, deputies respond to calls for dog abuse, abandonment or neglect, as well as dogs running at large or any other violation of dog laws. Removal of wild animals, including feral cats, is a service provided by commercial animal removal companies and not a Dog Warden responsibility. As Humane Officers, our deputies will respond to assist local law enforcement with injured or neglected animals. If it is unclear whether your situation requires the assistance of the Dog Warden or a commercial animal removal service, contact your local law enforcement agency for guidance.

Contacting the Dog Warden

BCSO Deputy Dog Wardens serve the cities of Hamilton, Middletown, Monroe and Trenton as well as the townships and villages of Butler County. Services are coordinated through your local law enforcement agency.

• For animal-related issues in the City of Fairfield , call the Fairfield Police at 513-829-8201.
• For animal-related issues in the City of Hamilton , call Butler County dispatch at 513-785-1300.
• For animal-related issues in the City of Middletown , call the Middletown Police at 513-425-7700.
• For animal-related issues in the City of Monroe , call the Monroe Police at 513-539-9234.
• For animal-related issues in the City of Oxford , call the Oxford Police at 513-523-4321.
• For animal-related issues in the City of Trenton , call the Trenton Police at 513-988-6341.
• For animal-related issues in the West Chester Township , call West Chester PD at 513-777-2231.

For all other townships and villages, call the Butler County Sheriff dispatch center at 513-785-1300.

If you have a question for a Deputy Dog Warden, call (513) 887-PAWS (7297).

If you’ve lost your pet, visit every shelter. It’s important that you visit all the local animal shelters to look for your pet because animals can wander far from home. It’s also necessary for you to visit Animal Friends Humane Society in person as they do not take lost pet reports over the phone. If you don’t find your pet at the shelter, leave a lost pet report and current photo with their office staff.

Don’t delay in looking for your lost pet. Don’t assume that a shelter will house your animal any longer than a few days. The Ohio Revised Code requires Animal Friends Humane Society to house stray dogs that are not wearing a current county license for 72 hours. A stray dog that enters their facility wearing a current county license will be held for 14 days. The State of Ohio does not require stray cats to be held for any length of time.

You may also post information about lost pets on the Dog Warden Facebook. This does not take the place of visiting the animal shelter, nor does it constitute filing a lost pet report. The animal shelter does not check against Facebook postings to identify animals.

Adopting a Pet

Pet adoption information can be found on the Animal Friends Humane Society website.

School Resource Officers

The Butler County Sheriff’s Office has deputies assigned as School Resource Officers (SROs) in the Edgewood, Lakota, Madison, and Talawanda School Districts. During the school year, the SRO may be assigned to a particular school or may rotate between schools, depending on the district. The SROs are assigned to other divisions in the Sheriff’s Office during the summer months.

What is a School Resource Officer?

The SRO is a certified law enforcement officer who is permanently assigned to provide coverage to a school or a set of schools. They are specifically trained to perform three roles: law enforcement officer, law-related counselor, and law-related education teacher.

The SRO is not necessarily a DARE officer, security guard, or officer who has been placed temporarily in a school in response to a crisis situation, but rather acts as a comprehensive resource for his/her school. Having these highly trained professionals in our school districts ensures the safety, security, and education of the student and staff.

“Ideally, we need an armed, trained deputy or police officer in every school,” Sheriff Jones said. “Schools have to take a more active approach to the problem. School boards can’t just hope that [violence] doesn’t happen at one of their schools. It’s time to start taking some real action. Our kids and grandchildren deserve to be as safe as possible.”

The fleet technician, Joshua Readnower, coordinates vehicle maintenance, equipment inventory and distribution. The BCSO fleet consists of patrol cruisers, transport vans and buses, administrative vehicles, unmarked detective units, motorcycles, armored SWAT vehicles, bomb trucks, a helicopter, and more.

The key to reliable and safe vehicles, not just one that starts, is routine maintenance. The best maintenance tip for keeping police vehicles ready is a regular maintenance plan. At every 3,000-mile interval, officers turn their vehicles in for an oil and filter change, brakes and air filter check. Tires are checked every time the car goes into the shop, regardless of mileage intervals. Not only is safety and longer wear major factors, fuel cost savings of up to 0.4% for every one psi drop in tire pressure. Under-inflated tires result in low gas mileage. With the biggest issues for police cars being their idle time and frequent starts and stops, the best maintenance tip is preventive maintenance. It’s the key to top performance. Reliability is second only to safety, then longevity.

Joshua Readnower maintains and repairs the specialized equipment inside our vehicles. He has expertise in all aspects of police vehicle systems, including the emergency lighting equipment, sirens, mobile computer mounting systems, GPS and other specialized equipment and wiring. Thanks to Josh’s ability to repair and install almost anything electrical on the patrol cars, thousands of dollars are saved annually by not having to take cars to vendors for repairs and installations. Additionally, Josh now does the vast majority of mobile software installations, upgrades, and troubleshooting.

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