Wendell and Ruth Cole stand with Lisbon Police Department K-9 Otis and handler Patrolman Alan Shaffer in January. The Coles donated more than $1,300 to facilitate the purchase of a bulletproof vest for K-9 Otis and also donated money for the initial purchase of the police dog. (Photo courtesy of Lisbon Police Chief Mike Abraham)

LISBON — Lisbon residents Wendell and Ruth Cole continued their support for the village’s first responders by donating over $1,300 to the police department to purchase a bulletproof vest for K-9 Otis.

“Apparently they custom-fit the vest to the dog,” Wendell Cole said. “I always thought it was cool to support the police department and the fire department.”

The Coles’ son is a retired police officer, now living in Florida with his wife, who worked for the city of Kent for the majority of his career.

“He was a sworn officer,” he said.

The Coles also donated money to fund the initial purchase of K-9 Otis last May and have donated to the Lisbon Fire Department as well. Wendell Cole currently serves on the village cemetery committee and has for at least the past seven years, he said.

The National Police Dog Foundation defines a K-9 as a “dog specifically trained to assist members of law enforcement.”

Lisbon Police Chief Mike Abraham has said that the cost for the Belgian Malinois dog, the training, and the specially-equipped K-9 police car totaled $72,000, with at least $18,000 for the cost of the dog and training.

The department raised in excess of $30,000 through donations and from selling T-shirts, hoodies, and can coolers. The Lisbon Community Foundation also donated. Part of the cost came from the police department budget.

Since its purchase, the K-9 unit has had success detecting illegal drugs during open-air sniffs around vehicles during traffic stops. This has allowed the department to pass along information to Lisbon’s representative on the Columbiana County Drug Task Force to pursue more cases and to develop confidential informants to track down drug suppliers, Abraham said.

“It makes them really successful,” he said.

Last year, the drug task force had 144 cases and the Lisbon representative was responsible for 43 of them, the highest total of any agent. K-9 Otis has nearly doubled the amount of drug cases pursued since it joined the department, Abraham said.

The K-9 can perform an open-air sniff around any vehicle, and if the scent of drugs are detected, that gives the officer probable cause to search the vehicle without a warrant.

When the dog detects something suspicious, there will be an “immediate change of behavior,” K-9 Otis’ handler, Patrolman Alan Shaffer, said. He likened it to Pavlovian, or classical, conditioning, where the dog is rewarded immediately after smelling something, training him to react.

Classical conditioning is defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica as a learning process “in which an automatic, conditioned response is paired with specific stimuli.”

Abraham said the department refers to it as the dog “alerting” to the vehicle when it smells something. The dog is very obedient and receives ongoing training every Wednesday.

Abraham thanked the Coles for their ongoing support.

“Him and his wife have been big supporters of the police department,” he said.

ehouk@mojonews.com