The Lakewood Police Department will finally be getting its own K9 bomb sniffing dog.

The announcement was made during a memorial service, where Sheriff Mastronardy addressed  security concerns in wake of the Pittsburgh attack.

Lakewood had a K-9 unit many years ago, but got rid of it due to budget constraints after the dogs retired in the 1980s, Lakewood Police Chief Greg Meyer told TLS.

”This has been a dream of mine for the past 30 years to bring a unit back to Lakewood,” Chief Meyer told TLS.

”I worked with the last two of our dogs which were assigned to the day shifts walking, and one to narcotics unit,” Chief Meyer said.

Since getting rid of it, each time Lakewood needed a K9 unit, it relied on the services of Brick, and the Sheriff’s Department. Waiting for a K9 to arrive from out of town, ties up officers and sometimes shuts roads for longer periods of time.

The new dog, which is expected join the force in a few months, will focus on explosive and tracking for missing persons.

The Chief added, “We will continue to rely on the County for assistance and joint training. On a major call out, or missing person, we will still be requesting County and other dogs. Our dogs will be a force multiplier in addition to Sheriffs.”

Meyer says the department will be looking to the Sheriff and surrounding towns for assistance in making this happen, and thanked Committeeman and Police Liaison Meir Lichtenstien and the committee for being instrumental in getting this project off the ground.

JUST IN: Sheriff Mastronardy announces Lakewood will soon be getting a K9 bomb unit; TRPD now has an anti-drone device.

— The Lakewood Scoop (@LakewoodScoop) October 28, 2018