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Henderson Co. Sheriff's Department brings back K-9 program after 30-year hiatus

Montana, a 1-year-old Belgian Malinois, is in the process of completing her 10-week K-9 training.

OQUAWKA, Ill. — The Henderson County Sheriff's Department is welcoming a new member to its ranks: a 1-year-old Belgian Malinois named Montana. She is the first K-9 to work with the department in 30 years.

Chief Deputy Matthew Link is in charge of the new K-9 program. He said there wasn't enough funding in the past years, but Montana was donated by Cedar Creek Kennels in Monmouth. An area veterinarian and pet store are also helping provide donations.

Montana will work with Deputy Scott Albin, who has been with the department for the last two decades.

"Myself, the sheriff and deputy Albin were the only ones that knew about it to begin with," Link said. "And then once we decided to let everybody know, it was pure excitement."

He hopes Montana will help the department respond to crime in a more proactive way, rather than reactive.

"The presence of a K-9 in itself is a deterrent of crime. We'd also like to use it not only as a crime deterrent but to help educate the community with drug prevention," Link said. "It's essentially just another deputy on the road without having the human aspect of it, to have that backup and have that sense of security."

Montana will help with drug searches and track suspects or missing persons. These are all things she's learning how to do in the training she's working through right now at Cedar Creek Kennels.

"We start really slowly with the guys, it's kind of a crawl before you can walk," said owner Matt Greenlief. "Some very basic search patterns, very basic tracks, all the way up to at the end of their 10 weeks, they're doing deployments in the field that they'd actually be doing when they're working."

Cedar Creek has donated and trained several other dogs for area law enforcement since 2020. Greenlief said it's his way of giving back to the community and law enforcement.

Greenlief works for the Warren County Sheriff's Department and has had two K-9s of his own.

"Dogs can do things that most officers will never even be able to think of doing," he said. "Whether it's locating a hidden suspect or contraband, they're a tool that is greatly needed."

Getting to train the dogs is a rewarding process, he added. 

"Getting the phone calls and the text messages from the handlers when they've gone out and successfully located a wanted subject or a subject that might have walked away from an assisted living center, that's probably one of the best phone calls we can receive," Greenlief said. "That kind of validation of our training is competed when these guys call back and give us these good reports."

Link said the Henderson County Sheriff's Department is also interested in expanding its K-9 program in the future.

"If we can keep that funding alive and keep those donations coming in, and with the seizure monies and vehicles and whatever that we get from drug arrests or whatever with the K-9, we'll be allowed to use that money as well to support the K-9 program," he said.

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