FLINT, MI -- There's a new member in the Flint police pack.
And his name is Sonitrol.
The department's new furry, four-legged worker is an 18-month-old German Shepherd that specializes in sniffing out narcotics and human tracking. He's named after Sonitrol Security Systems, which gave the Flint Police Foundation money to buy the dog.
The Flint Police Foundation gives funding for special projects and equipment for the Flint Police Department.
Sonitrol came with an initial price tag of about $10,000, which included the cost paid to the Oakland County breeder, training and specialized gear and patrol car outfitting. Ongoing monthly costs for the dog are about $100, according to a news release from the city, and that includes food, vet care and ongoing training.
The dog -- with the help of his handler Andrew Grocholski, a three-year veteran of the Flint Police Department -- graduated from a police K9 training academy in Oakland County on Friday, Nov. 13, and has been working the street for about three weeks now, Grocholski said.
Flint police Chief James Tolbert said the dog will compliment the department's existing K9 unit, which includes another German Shepherd named Edo that specializes in bomb detection.
"Right now, we have a explosives and tracking dog, and this one is a narcotics and tracking dog, and so they can obviously play off of each other," Tolbert said. "We're not working one dog so much now, and now we can have that coverage over multiple shifts as opposed to one dog."
Edo was donated to the Flint Police Department last October by Manistee's Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Department of Public Safety. He was the first K9 the department's had since 2007, when then-mayor Don Williamson discontinued use of the city's four police dogs: Artos, Nace, Nero and Snitch.
Police were talking about securing funding for more dogs, especially those that specialize in narcotics detection, last year when Edo was adopted. The ultimate goal was to have a dog on shift at all times, Edo's handler Officer John Boismier said at the time.
Doogie's Dollar pet store in Davison is donating food, and Sonitrol has agreed to cover ongoing costs for both Edo and Sonitrol through the Flint Police Foundation.
To learn more about the foundation or to make a donation, visit flintpolicefnd.net.