Growing police department makes drug bust in Mt. Washington

MOUNT WASHINGTON, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Mt. Washington Police Department has seen a lot of growth within the last year.

From tiny details like new patches on uniforms to an updated, larger evidence room, the department is upgrading.

"I think it brings us into the 21st century," said Major Kevin DeSpain.

The department also says there's a lot of new evidence coming in, thanks in part to a new K-9 officer, Bane.

The Mt. Washington Police Foundation was able to obtain Bane through a local business, Material Handling Systems (MHS). The business not only paid for Bane's initial purchase fee, but also paid for his K9 officer training. Elk Creek Animal Clinic has also donated all of his care.

"We greatly appreciate having so many local businesses support us," said Mt. Washington Police Chief Troy Pitcock.

With help from Bane, officers recently completed a successful drug bust that included suspected meth, cocaine and marijuana.

"What they found was a fairly substantial indoor grow operation," said DeSpain. He said a traffic stop led to a search warrant at a home, where officers found several marijuana plants in the basement. Officers also say they found several guns.

"Basically I mean there were guns all through the house," said DeSpain.

Those drugs and guns are now being stored in the department's new evidence room. It's a space that was previously used as a garage.

"That garage space was turned into what I feel like is going to be a state of the art evidence/property room for a department our size," DeSpain said.

In addition to the new K-9, updated logos, and new evidence room, the department is also expanding off site. Down the road, a building has been transformed into a training center, both to serve the community and police.

The training center includes a classroom that holds about 50 people. Community members are able to attend classes and lectures there. The building also has an attached training area for police officers, where they can use a firearms simulator to practice responding to real life scenarios.

"In this region I think we're kind of leading the way as far as training goes right now," said DeSpain. "We want our officers to have a sense of pride in the community and the community to have a sense of pride in us."

Three new officers are joining the force in December. That will bring the total number of officers to 26, including K9 Bane.