Cops Wednesday packed the former Ames store in Tri-Town Plaza where a gaggle of Home Depot workers slung hammers and buzzed table saws.
It was all good, though. The workers were volunteers and they were building a canine training facility for the Seymour Police Department.
Thanks to the Home Depot workers’ carpentry expertise, by 1 p.m. police dogs from Westport and Seymour were jumping obstacles, staring down reporters and happily sniffing out narcotics (simulated, of course).
The indoor facility has an obstacle course, a bunch of training stations — even three vehicles for police dogs to practice their trade. The Seymour Police Department’s two dogs and their handlers will have access to it, but so will canine units from all over.
And it’s all because of donations from Home Deport, Christiani Paintworks, Tri-Town Plaza owner Ron Spector, Superior Canine Services, Seymour Veterinary Hospital, the Blue Buffalo Co. and the Tri-Town Dunkin Donuts.
The materials donated by Home Depot for the project were about $5,000 alone. That doesn’t include labor or equipment costs.
“The community and business support for our canine program has been incredible,” said Seymour Police Chief Michael Metzler.
The canine program within the 41-member Seymour Police Department relies heavily on donations — and some dedicated cops who know how to hustle.
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The town’s police commission recently approved the addition of a second police dog, thanks to an anonymous donation of some $7,000.
Officer John Oczkowski has been assigned to work with the new dog, a female German Shepherd who has yet to be named.
When the idea for a training facility came about, Seymour cops reached out to Spector to see if he would let them use the empty space. He immediately agreed, police said.
Oczkowski contacted Ryan Hunt, Home Depot’s district operations manager for nine stores in Connecticut. Hunt is also a captain at the Seymour Ambulance Association and an Ansonia resident.
“John Oczkowski asked me if Home Deport could donate some material and he showed me a packet of what they needed,” Hunt said.
Hunt passed the information to Bryan Williams, a Home Depot district manager.
“He immediately said ‘let’s do it,’” Hunt said.
About 15 Home Deport employees were in Seymour Wednesday donating their time.
“Some of them have been carpenters for 25 years. The skill level is just amazing,” Hunt said.
The canine training facility is good for efficiency, Chief Metzler said. Seymour owns the equipment and will be able to pop in when necessary, as opposed to having to travel halfway across the state for training.
The chief said the department’s older dog, Raider, is primarily used for people searches (and to apprehend suspects, if warranted).
The new, unnamed dog will be “cross trained” to sniff out drugs. There are plans to train Raider in the same way.
The new dog will be trained exclusively within the new space at Tri-Town.
“I think this is a good deal for the town,” Metzler said.
The new facility is not necessarily going to be at Tri-Town permanently. If a new tenant is found for the space, the Seymour PD will move the equipment out and store it somewhere else.
“There is really nothing in the state like this,” said Oczkowski, the department’s newest canine officer.
Usually, canine handlers from Seymour had to bounce around to various other locations in the state for training.
“There would be one thing here, one thing there — now it’ll be here, all in one place,” Oczkowski said.
