Rotary club gets a tour of sheriff's annex remodel
Local law enforcement officers pose with Buddy, Boundary County Sheriff’s Office’s new K-9 drug dog partnered with Cpl. Michael Valenzuela. Pictured, from left, are special agent Pete Seymour, deputy chief Alan Dryer, special agent Ian Ashley, Buddy the drug dog, and Cpl. Mike Valenzuela.
Photo by VICTOR CORRAL MARTNEZ
BONNERS FERRY — The Boundary County Sheriff’s Annex has received a facelift.
On Tuesday, Sheriff Dave Kramer gave the Bonners Ferry Rotary Club a tour of the newly renovated building along with a demonstration with the department's drug dog, Buddy.
Buddy was a highlight of the tour for Rotary members, their children and grandchildren. Buddy’s trainer and partner, Mike Valenzuela, answered a number of questions from the crowd during the demonstration, explaining things like the training process for a drug dog, length of their career and care requirements. He shared that in order for Buddy to become certified they have to pass all their tests 100% of the time and there is no room for mistakes.
Valenzuela said Buddy’s goal in identifying scents is to gain the reward of his ball. During the demonstration, Buddy picked up on the scent of drugs Valenzuela had planted in a van — something he did in just a few seconds. After letting Buddy play with his ball, Valenzuela reclaimed it and put it in his pocket. Buddy clearly wanted his ball and provided a lot of laughs for the crowd when he honed in on the scent of drugs several more times in an attempt to get it back.
Kramer talked in detail about changes and plans for the building. In the future, the department plans to move all its administrative offices from downtown into the annex and eventually convert the entire downtown building into the jail, expanding its current 24-bed capacity.
The tour included peeks into the BCSO dispatch room, interview room, probation offices and more.
During the tour Kramer also talked about equipment and how the department is “leveraging technology to … make our job better, what we can do on a local level and also keep everyone safe,” from a new underwater metal detector to drones and soon-to-be-acquired tools like night vision and dive equipment.
Kramer also talked about a variety of grants the department has received to help upgrade its equipment, commenting that Burlington Northern Railway has been a great partner for Boundary County.