To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Fabio Rodriguez, Chief of Police
Prepared By: Chris Pacheco, Police Captain
TITLE:
Title
Acceptance of Donation of Police K9
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Adopt a resolution authorizing the Napa Police Chief to execute an agreement accepting the donation of a police service dog (K9) from Derek Amaral.
Body
DISCUSSION:
In 2023, the Police Department requested authorization to accept a donation of $15,000 from an interested community member to fund the purchase and training of a new K9, supplementing the Department's existing two K9 officers and adding the expertise of K9 explosives detection. The Department was to absorb the costs of the additional K9 and handler within their budget authority, including the costs related to specialty pay, overtime for training, and equipment. The City Manager's explicit direction was that this was a one-time approval to supplement the existing program, and no additional ongoing budget resources were being approved.
The third K9 Team was officially onboarded to the Department in January of 2024, and NPD consisted of three K9's and three handlers until earlier this calendar year. One of the existing K9's (K9 Dex) was abruptly retired due to severe medical issues. While operating with three K9 Officers, the Department noted that the increased availability of K9 Officers improved response times, increased officer safety, allowed for explosive detection services at large local events and served as a resource regionally. After K9 Dex's early retirement, the team returned to an operation with two officers, based on the direction previously provided. A recent lateral officer hire, Officer Amaral, has extensive K9 handling experience and has ownership of K9 Ruger (previously with Napa County Sheriff's Office). Officer Amaral was selected as NPD’s most recent K9 handler. The Department requested the City Manager approve working to obtain ownership of K9 Ruger from Officer Amaral. City Manager Potter approved that request on 10/07/26 and Officer Amaral has stated his intention to donate K9 Ruger to the City of Napa for the purpose of being used as Police K9.
Police K9 units are a vital asset to the Napa PD Patrol Bureau. They are trained in search, narcotic and apprehension techniques. They provide valuable assistance to patrol personnel and allow for increased officer safety. Every patrol shift encounter calls for service on a daily basis which would benefit from the use of a K9 team. With the current emphasis on REACT and Contact Teams, along with less lethal options of force, K9 teams have an increased importance. Further, our K9 teams can assist in searches for lost / missing persons, article searches for evidentiary items and social interaction at public events.
With the importance of K9’s in mind, the addition of K9 teams to the Operations Division has been beneficial. Increased availability of K9 teams has decreased response times and increased utilization of K9 in dynamic incidents. The addition of explosives detection has benefitted the community with utilization at large events such as BottleRock as well as being a regional asset.
NPD's three-team K9 program provides Napa with a proven, specialized resource that extends existing staffing, enhances officer and public safety, supports investigations, strengthens event security, and improves the department's ability to respond to high-risk incidents. For a relatively small department responsible for continuous public safety services, maintaining this capability represents a strategic investment in operational readiness and community safety.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
This item will have a one-time cost of approximately $1500 and ongoing monthly cost of approximately $2600. The funds were budgeted through the normal process, and this action simply utilizes already appropriated funds in general fund account
21K9-10021306-53210 and will have no impact on budget or fund balance.
CEQA:
The Chief of Police has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the activity is not a “Project” as defined under Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines; therefore, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines the activity is not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is required.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
ATCH 1 - Resolution
NOTIFICATION:
None