One change Heidelberg's police chief Vernon Barkley instituted after he took over the department in December 2005 was the addition of occasional foot patrols by police officers.

The purpose was to deter crime and to enable his officers to interact with borough residents.

Once officers started walking the beat, a number of Heidelberg residents showed up at council meetings to say they liked the new personal approach to police work, and the increased visibility of the officers in their neighborhoods.

Now, a four-legged member of the force will be added to the patrols.

Council voted April 15 to accept an $8,000 grant from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation to develop a K-9 program for the police department.

Most of the money will be used to buy a police dog, but Mayor Kenneth LaSota expressed concern about the long-term costs to the borough of maintaining a K-9 unit.

"While the department should be commended for being successful in the grant process, I was not prepared for the costs. I thought the costs would be much lower," Mayor LaSota said.

He estimated total costs for the purchase of the dog, training of the officer, new equipment, and liability insurance at $18,000, minus the $8,000 grant with projected costs of about $3,000 to $4,500 in the second and third year of the K-9 program.

"The expenses may or may not be sustainable," he said.

Councilman Robert DeBar agreed with the Mayor's reasoning. He was the sole council member to vote against accepting the grant.

"I thought it was free. I never anticipated these costs. Free doesn't mean $20,000," he said.

After the meeting, however, Council President Ray Losego said he didn't think the estimated costs would be that high.

"Most of the cost will be in the initial training of the officer. After that, they will be much lower," he said.

He also anticipates savings this year in the borough's police department health care plan which will help defray costs of maintaining the police dog.

Solicitor Michael Kaleugher acknowledged there are sometimes unanticipated costs associated with a K-9 unit, citing the experience of Wilkinsburg, which ran up veterinarian bills of $20,000 for its police dog, but things worked out for the municipality.

"The newspapers publicized the need for donations to help pay the vet bills, and they raised over $60,000. The borough actually made money," he said.

"People love their animals," Mr. Losego said.

He also said that Chief Barkley is working on an arrangement with a local veterinarian to receive a discount on vet services for the police dog.

Bridgeville, which has added a K-9 unit to its police force, periodically holds fund-raisers to help pay the costs of the K-9 unit, and Chief Edward Bogats Jr. is a strong advocate of the use of police dogs in law enforcement. At the April 14 Bridgeville council meeting, he commended his K-9 unit for assisting Carnegie in the investigation of a March 30 shooting in Carnegie.

Addo, Bridgeville's police dog, located the suspect hiding in an apartment, and also found the weapon used in the shooting hidden in a five-gallon bucket stuffed with rags, Chief Bogats said.

Also, Addo helped U.S. Marshalls and the FBI in the capture of fugitive Anthony Artrip, a bank robber and prison escapee, at the Knight's Inn in South Fayette last October.

The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation supports small police and fire departments with a particular emphasis on helping them obtain service dogs.