2 new funds created for
Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Office

Emmalee Scheibe | The Daily Nonpareil
June 22, 2021

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office has recently partnered with the Pottawattamie County Community Foundation to create two funds — Pottawattamie County Shop with the Sheriff Fund and Pottawattamie County K-9 Unit Support Fund.

The Pottawattamie County Shop with the Sheriff Fund was created to support the annual “Shop with the Sheriff’’ event that has been happening for more than 20 years, a press release said.

“Shop with the Sheriff” was created by Lt. Larry Brown in 1998 to support families in need during the holiday season. Each year the Sheriff’s Office works with the local Department of Human Services to choose the families who will participate.

Last year alone, 72 children and 33 families participated in the “Shop with the Sheriff” event. Each child received up to $200 in clothing and toys, and families were given a $75 gift card for a holiday meal.

The Pottawattamie County K-9 Unit Support Fund is new, and will help the department purchase and provide training for additional K-9’s. Pottawattamie County Sheriff Andy Brown noticed a lack of K-9’s earlier this year.

“Currently, the only K-9 detection dog is on a long-term commitment to a federal task force and unavailable to the Road Patrol Deputies that conduct regular Sheriff’s Office business,” the release said.

Through this fund, the sheriff’s office will be able to create a K-9 program that won’t use any tax dollars, but instead uses charitable donations through the fund. Funds will go to purchasing the specialized breed of dogs, training, vet fees and other related costs.

“The protection of residents, the apprehension of criminals and the safety of our Deputies is our mission,” Brown said in the release. “Law enforcement service dogs perform a critical function in modern law enforcement. They give the Deputies the ability to be more proactive in drug investigations and protect both law enforcement and the public during the apprehension of dangerous criminals.”

The goal is to add two more dogs to regular road patrol with the intent that the dogs be narcotic detection dogs with the ability to do patrol functions like tracking and apprehension in high-risk environments, the release said.

“We are thankful for the staff at Pottawattamie County Community Foundation who have made it possible for us to receive financial support to purchase K-9s for our Road Patrol Division, and to the people of Pottawattamie County who are supporting this program,” Brown said.

Donna Dostal, president and CEO of the Pottawattamie County Community Foundation, said the role of the foundation is to build philanthropy and engagement in the community to help organizations.

“I think it’s wonderful to partner with sheriff’s department,” she said. “They are just so excited to have this resource and collaborate with other communities around us and we couldn’t be more honored to work with them.”