A Peachtree City business has made a huge contribution to the police department to help start up a K-9 program.

Panasonic donated $13,000 in a special presentation at Thursday night’s City Council meeting.

The start-up costs are estimated to be $36,000 and that will include two dogs, training, special equipment for patrol vehicles, kennels and other, Police Chief H.C. “Skip” Clark said in a memo to council. The program will include two trained dog handlers and help make K-9 units more available to the city.

The units will be used to detect drugs and apprehend criminals in addition to serving as a crime deterrent, Clark noted.

“With the rise of criminal activity most notably associated with metropolitan areas, it is our belief that this type of program would be a valuable tool to keep Peachtree City the safe secure community the citizens are accustomed to and the police department has always been proud to provide.”

K-9s can search large areas very quickly which can be helpful when dealing with large facilities and situations such as missing children, Clark said.