Meet Kermit, Lower Moreland Police Department's First-Ever K9 Dog

LOWER MORELAND, PA — The requirement was a first for the Lower Moreland Police Department: install a backseat-mounted water bowl in the rear of one of its squad cars.

The reason – its newest hire doesn’t perspire, so he needs to drink often in order to cool down.

The small police department in eastern Montgomery County recently implemented a K9 unit for the first time ever, and Kermit, the 2-year-old German Shepherd who will be using that backseat water bowl, is the officer who was brought in to fill the newly created role.

“We’re sort of starting it from scratch here,” Sierra Volkert, Kermit’s human partner, said about Lower Moreland’s K9 unit.

Kermit and Volkert began training together back in March, soon after township officials approved the police department to have a K9 unit.

On Wednesday, the two sat down – (when Kermit sat, he got his toy) – with Patch to talk about policing with a dog in Lower Moreland.

Dog Lover

“I’ve been a dog lover since I was a kid,” Volkert said. “That’s kind of where it all started.”

Her family had various family pets throughout the years and Volkert had done her share of animal shelter volunteering. When she decided to become a police officer, she hoped that a K9 unit opportunity would arise at some point.

“This was a field that really intrigued me and interested me,” Volkert said. “I didn’t know that we would ever have it here in Lower Moreland.”

Volkert got hired by Lower Moreland in June 2019, soon after the now-23-year-old graduated from the police academy. This January, Lower Moreland began the search process for a K9 dog, and in March they found Kermit from the Von Haus Wick breeder. Volkert and Kermit immediately began training with each other at the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Vet Working Dog Center, which trains everything from law enforcement dogs to civilian search and rescue dogs to dogs being trained to sniff out cancer and even COVID-19.

Kermit was 8 weeks old when he began his training at Penn. After training, he went to live with a foster family in order to become adapted to kids and other people.

Drug Sniffing

Kermit is specifically trained in drug sniffing. Mostly the hard stuff, like heroin, crack, cocaine and Fentanyl. Volkert said up-and-coming K9 dogs are not really being trained to sniff out marijuana anymore since it is being legalized, either medicinally or recreationally, in many places. Pennsylvania has a legal medical marijuana program.

On Wednesday, the day he met Patch, Kermit actually had his first-ever successful job out on the street: he signaled that a car that was stopped may have illegal substances. The car is currently being held on a search warrant at the department.

“We didn’t open it yet, but he [Kermit] did indicate on the outside of the car,” Volkert said.

Indicating is when the K9 alerts its handler that a vehicle may have drugs.

Volkert said Kermit gets a special toy after indicating while on duty. At home, he has a variety of other "off-duty" toys to play with.

During Kermit’s interview, Police Chief David Scirrotto popped in to see how the four-legged officer was handling the publicity.

“He’s a great dog,” Scirrotto told Patch.

The chief also said the department definitely picked the best partner for Kermit.

“We’re just excited with Sierra,” he said. “We picked our best officer to be the handler for Kermit and get this program started, so we’re very excited.”

Grants and Donations

Volkert explained that Lower Moreland’s K9 unit is actually funded entirely by donations and grant money. In fact, the K9 squad car that the department recently acquired for Kermit was actually an older model Ford Crown Victoria that previously belonged to the Jenkintown Police Department.

“We’re trying to be as frugal as we can,” she said.

Scirrotto said the department got grant money from the American Kennel Club, which has a program dedicated to law enforcement. He said additional money should soon be coming through in the form of matching grant dollars from a local AKC chapter.

Scirrott said once the K9 program is fully in place, it should be entirely self-sustaining.

Volkert said Lower Moreland saw a need for its own K9 unit because in the past it has always had to rely on the assistance of police dogs from nearby police departments with K9 units, such as those in Abington, Horsham, Upper Moreland, Plymouth, Whitemarsh and Norristown, among others.

And sometimes, those dogs aren’t available on the spot.

“If you have a violent crime going on or a missing person, you need them there ASAP,” Volkert said of the dogs. “We always had to rely on other departments.”

As for Volkert, she said she couldn’t be happier, both with Lower Moreland and her new furry partner.

“It’s a great department,” she said.

Volkert had initially applied at many Montgomery County departments, but Lower Moreland was her number one pick. She was happy it came through.

“Walking in here, it was just like a totally different feeling,” she said. “And it still remains that way.”