FOSTER -- The wood-and-concrete kennel behind the Police Department sits empty.
Omar -- the drug-sniffing, 100-pound German shepherd, whom Chief Donald E. Kettelle called one of his best cops -- hasn't graced the pen since last September.
"We liked the dog," the chief said, on Friday. "He did good work while he was here."
Kettelle decided to retire Omar, after Brian S. Sedgley, the Scituate Police Department's K-9 officer, sued the town in federal court in Providence last July. Sedgley alleged that the town failed to pay him overtime for taking care of the dog after his shift ended.
His lawyer, Robert A. Jones, of Albany, N.Y., said the town violated the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which states that employees covered under the measure are entitled to overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours a week.
Scituate town officials settled the lawsuit, agreeing to pay Sedgley $24,000 in retroactive pay. Last October, the Scituate Town Council voted to end the police dog program.
Kettelle said, "I couldn't take the chance for the Town of Foster being sued for back wages down the road."
Now Omar, who was born in Slovakia and rasied in Derby, Conn., lives with his handler, Officer Eric Rollinson. Rollinson trained Omar for 13 weeks at the Department of Corrections in Cranston.
Omar officially joined the seven-person department on April 7, 2000, but he didn't begin police work until July. Omar cost $2,800. Donations paid for the dog and a $1,445 cage for Rollinson's cruiser.
During his time with the department, Omar received a commendation letter from the chief for locating a large quantity of marijuana.
But no matter how much the department liked Omar, Kettelle said the dog would have become an expense to the town.
Besides, "I can get it for nothing from the state police," the chief said.
Local police departments can ask state police for one of their five K-9 units, soon to be six, said State Police Maj. John J. Leyden Jr.
In a letter to Foster Police Department employees, Kettelle said, "I would like to thank Omar and his handler Officer Eric Rollinson for their service to the town in the fight against illegal drugs."
