OZAUKEE COUNTY, Wis. — The Grafton Police Department is bringing in reinforcements to better serve the community through a K9 unit.

Chief Jeff Caponera said the need for a K9 unit has increased. The department requests a unit from other agencies on a weekly basis for calls.

“We knew our budget is really tight, so we had to come up with some innovative ways to create some funding mechanisms for the K9 program,” said Caponera. “We decided to come up with the Grafton K9 Foundation that’s a 5013c nonprofit organization that’s separate from the police department.”

Caponera said the overall goal is $100,000. The funding will cover the cost of the dog, the vehicle, training and other needs.

“We’re just about $56,000, but we have commitments up to $20,000 from other people donating to us,” said Caponera. “So it’s going to push us way over the threshold to get the K9 going.”

He’s hoping the K9 unit will be up and running by the end of the year to serve the GPD and surrounding communities.

The Mequon Police Department is one of the several agencies that aid the GPD with one of their dogs. Officer Matt Bottoni has been a handler of Djuke for the past two years. He said an extra K9 unit in the county will be beneficial.

“The biggest thing is time,” said Bottoni. “I might be busy here in Mequon and if Grafton needs a dog, I might not be able to respond because we might have our own stuff going on here.”

The goal for the GPD is to have two K9 units. Caponera said the foundation will continue raising money for a second one.