 The Park Rapids Police Department spent most of the last year of fundraising for a canine unit and last month they finally reached their goal. Lakeland News reporter Cheryl Moore tells us what the new officer will bring to the area. A new pup will soon be a part of the Park Rapids Police Department, thanks in large part to the community. We talked about several options but we settled on a police canine unit. The Park Rapids City Council unanimously approved to reinstate the canine unit last month. Today we started purchasing equipment and we were able to enroll in the St. Paul Police Canine Handler Academy, which starts March 5th. The canine officer was selected through an internal process. After canine academy, him and the new dog will go through narcotics training. The price to get everything started was $70,000. It was to cover all startup costs so that would include a new squad car, all the equipment for the squad car, the training, the purchase of the dog. The Park Rapids canine fund has been in the work since late 2016. The dream came in reality thanks to local businesses like the ones you see around me who helped raise the money. Across the whole community there was support. The local American Legion had a meatball dinner to help. Local businesses donated money, citizens mailed in money. They had a mailing campaign also to help support the program. Chief Apple says the money is a small price to pay for all the good that canine will bring to the Park Rapids. The dog is a former canine officer himself and says the dog will help protect police as well as do other tasks. One of the main goals is to help with narcotics interdiction in town as a drug dog. It will be a dual-purpose dog so it can help across the board with criminal apprehension or tracking lost individuals. Overall, it's an exciting time for the Park Rapids PD. The dogs can perform a wide array of tasks and we're excited to have that on board. Reporting in Park Rapids, Cheryl Moore, Lakeland News. The canine unit is expected to be fully up and running in July.