Former Jeannette K-9 handler defends unit after city manager’s comments, program’s elimination

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — For the first time since the elimination of the Jeannette K-9 program, one of the city’s handlers is talking to KDKA-TV.

His interview comes one day after the city manager exclusively sat down with KDKA-TV to discuss the reasoning behind the program’s elimination.

“It’s one of those things where only half of the truth is being told,” said Sergeant Jim Phillips, the former K-9 handler for the city.

K-9 handler disagrees with city manager’s comments

On Thursday, the city manager, Ethan Keedy, said that since 2018, the K-9 unit has only made one self-initiated arrest. Phillips said that’s simply not true.

“That’s a pure defamation of character,” Phillips said. “The statements that were made by the city manager were clearly misleading because they were given to the public, specifically the city of Jeannette, and it was directly meant to undermine my success as a canine officer over the past years, in addition to the success of my K-9 team members, and the product that they have yielded over the years,” Phillips said.

Phillips provided KDKA-TV with a few examples of arrests involving the K-9 unit, including an award his now-retired dog Arees was given in 2021.

“I got this plaque as a thank you from the current mayor and chief of police,” Phillips said. “It states, Dring his loyal and courageous career Officer Arees was instrumental in the countless narcotics searches, seizures, tracking of suspects and lost persons.’ It also goes on to say how we played an integral role in community relations with doing K-9 demonstrations and things like that. Once again, this was given to me in December 2021, which would have been in that time period of 2018 where the statement was made that only one criminal arrest was made or initiated by me. I would like to think that the city, specifically the mayor and the chief at that time, wouldn’t have given me a notice like that, an award, for a dog that only ever made one criminal arrest.”

Phillips said he and the unit made five arrests during one incident in 2022.

“Over the last decade, both of my dogs have made me extremely proud. And we’ve had a number of arrests that speak for themselves. You know, some of them larger than others, and not all narcotics arrests either. But on the ones that specifically come to mind and in the recent past, there was an incident that I had investigated that involved an infant child who ingested narcotics inside of their residence. I initiated a search warrant on that residence, deployed canine Diesel into that residence for searching the residence for the present owner for narcotics. As a result of that investigation, five arrests were made,” Phillips said.

He said he isn’t sure where Keedy got the statistics that said one self-initiated arrest had been made.

“I’m assuming that there must have been some type of research conducted to come up with any type of a number. But I can clearly see they’re looking at the wrong places for getting those stats,” Phillips said.

Phillips started as a K-9 handler for the city of Jeannette in 2014.

“I can see a drastic change in the city of Jeannette just as far as the community, in my opinion, has become much safer,” Phillips said. “I can remember whenever I first started, we were busy pretty much from noon until 3:30, 4 o’clock in the morning. We had a lot of problem bars. We had after-hours clubs. We had any type of criminal incident that you can imagine, ranging from minor, simple assaults to homicides. And just from my observations on the shift that I’m assigned to, the midnight shift, the city is completely cleaned up to the point where it’s extremely quiet. So, you know, I would like to think that it’s not only the efforts made by our canine program. It’s also the efforts made by the department as a whole. But I think having a K-9 unit is obviously a deterrent.”

Phillips also responded to Keedy’s statement about the K-9 unit only having nine deployments so far this year. He said in addition to being a K-9 handler, he is the administrator for the department’s body-worn camera program and a field training officer (FTO).

“At the beginning of the year, we had some retirements and we had some new officers hired. One specifically was an officer that was directly hired out of the police academy, so he needed to be trained to the fullest extent. Now, I’m not going to take all of the credit. I’ve been the FTO officer since 2014,” Philips said. “We have an additional FTO officer who works at midnight with me. So collectively, he and I cooperated on the training that this officer was going to receive. And you know, just recently, right around the time period of June, he was taken off of the FTO program.”

Phillips said enforcement efforts weren’t paused because they had a new officer hire, but the focus was taking place “where the focus needed to take place.”

“Whenever incidents were to arise where the K-9 needed to be deployed, without a doubt he was deployed,” Phillips said.

K-9 handler points to long history of community support

Phillips also commented on the donations community members have made over the years in support of the K-9 program.

“I was approached in 2014 and asked if I wanted to be the canine officer. But I was also told that the canine program couldn’t cost the city anything financially. So, it was taken upon me to fundraise completely,” Phillips said.

He said through donations from generous community members, they purchased a new 2024 K-9 vehicle. That vehicle has since been turned over to the city since the program’s elimination.

“The police car that I turned in, it was a 2024 Explorer. I wrote a check out specifically paying for the entire cost of the vehicle,” Phillips said. “So, it was actually two separate checks. It was the purchase, the upfitting, and then there were some additional expenses, which total right around $51,000. So, whenever I hear … and no discredit to the taxpayers, that the taxpayers put in their taxes into that vehicle or this program, I can say with 100% accuracy that’s incorrect. Because that money was all fundraised.

“It may have come from the taxpayers, but it was coming from donations and support every time somebody bought a Jeannette police canine T-shirt. That money helped continue the program and progress forward, not only with trainings but with equipment and pretty much anything you can imagine just in relation to the K-9 program.”

Phillips also stressed that the dog food for the K-9s has been donated by a local business at no charge to the city.

“All that (the store) requested in return was one canine demonstration a year for one of their pet appreciation weeks. And we would go up and do that at no charge to the city. And in turn, they would donate thousands of dollars in dog food. I would go up there every time and get two bags of dog food that were roughly $58 per bag,” Phillips said.

In addition, the city told KDKA-TV on Thursday that it asked the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office for assistance in funding for the K-9 program. 

Master K-9 trainer Bill Sombo said Diesel was purchased by the DA’s office in 2023 for $7,500. He said the Jeannette K-9 fund paid for $2,500 in narcotics and patrol trainings needed for the dog.

“The money for that came out of the K-9 fund, not paid by taxpayers,” Sombo said.

Phillips told KDKA-TV that it’s disappointing to see the K-9 program come to an end.

“It’s unfortunate that the canine program is terminated, but I can go to sleep at night with a clear conscience knowing that even though they terminated it, I gave it 110%,” Phillips said.

Future of K-9 Diesel

A few days after Phillips was notified of the program’s elimination, he said the city offered to legally sign over Diesel. Prior to the offer, the city released a statement stating, “The city has taken all necessary steps to ensure that the affected canine is properly taken care of and rehomed.”

“I can remember, I looked at my wife and I said did somebody come into our house and take Diesel? Because last time I checked, he’s still here. So, that somebody that was taking care of the dog was, in fact, me. The dog never left my possession towards that time period,” Phillips said.

Phillips said the city handed him a three-page contract after he stated he was interested in keeping Diesel.

“I didn’t feel comfortable signing that contract without consulting legal advice because of the other things that are going on in the background,” Phillips said.

Phillips said went away for the weekend and took the dog to a kennel. He then decided to keep the dog there until the city council meets on Aug. 8.

“I made the decision that not knowing where we stand and we’re in that gray area, it would probably be best for Diesel to stay at the kennel, although it’s extremely heartbreaking. But I can tell you that he has not been forgotten about,” Phillips said. “We’ve checked up on him. We’ve gotten pictures of him. We really know exactly what’s going on. He’s been there many times. I actually think that he enjoys there to go spend time with his friends. If he could talk, he would probably tell me that.”

Phillips said ultimately, he wants what is best for Diesel.

“Those are things that I would have to address with my family,” Phillips said. “We would have to acclimate Diesel to a retired life at four years of age. So, that’s something that needs to be addressed. It’s something that I would have to consult with my master trainer, Bill Sombo, and say is this something that we can achieve, turn back the clock and make him a family pet. If that’s something that could be achieved, by all means, he has a spot in our heart and a spot in our family. If that’s something that can’t be achieved and I have to, I have to put my feelings aside and do what’s best for Diesel if he can be rehomed or to another canine handler and continue on his working career.”

Phillips said Diesel is in his prime when it comes to police work.

“He’s got six years left in them,” he said. “And in all reality, the prime time for any police dog is usually between the ages of 3 and 6. That’s when you’re going to get peak work life out of them and performance. So, he is right in the middle of that, you know? So there are some tough decisions to make, but I haven’t canceled anything out. Everything’s still on the table.”