Officer, dog selected to start training for Dexter K-9 unit

DEXTER — The Dexter Police Department’s new canine unit is one step closer to becoming a reality with the recent selection of its officer/handler.

Thomas Forkum was chosen from a group of officers who put in for the position, said Dexter Police Chief Trevor Pulley.

In selecting Forkum, the department went “through an internal process to determine which officer (was) the best fit for that position, like with any position in the department,” Pulley explained.

Forkum

Forkum, he said, has worked for the department about a year, having previously worked for the Stoddard County Sheriff’s Department.

Pulley said Forkum’s new partner is a young German shepherd, and the team will begin training together March 4 at Mike Ervin’s Riverview K-9 facility in Cape Girardeau.

The team, Pulley said, will be in training for about eight to nine weeks, then “he’ll hit the ground as soon as his last day of training (ends) … then the dog will be ready for duty.”

The department has been without a canine since 2013.

The re-establishment of the canine program is going to “allow us to do more tracking, more narcotics investigations (and) a lot of public service in the schools and in the community,” Pulley said.

The Board of Aldermen and city officials, according to Pulley, have been “very gracious to allow us to re-establish the program, and it’s a program that is needed in this area.”

In addition to the city’s provided funding, he said, the department also still is taking donations to support the program.

Pulley said there are ongoing expenses for the canine each year.

The city is “providing a lot of things to the program; it’s not just donation based,” Pulley said.