By Raheem Soto, Publisher
The recent work of Southampton Village Police K-9 Topper should cause residents to pay close attention to what happens next with the Village’s K-9 program.
On September 15, Southampton Village Police said their license plate reader system alerted officers to a vehicle being operated by a man wanted by the NYPD in connection with a shooting. Officers conducted a high-risk traffic stop and took the man into custody.
Police said a search of the vehicle recovered a loaded Mac-11 9mm pistol. Then Topper went to work.
According to the department, Topper alerted officers to the vehicle’s center console, where police subsequently located a quantity of crack cocaine.
That single incident illustrates something that can sometimes get lost when municipal budgets and equipment decisions are discussed in the abstract: a trained police dog is a working public-safety asset with capabilities that are difficult to duplicate.
Southampton Village Police itself describes its K-9 unit as capable of assisting with burglaries in progress, tracking missing people, detecting drugs and evidence, apprehension, officer protection, deterrence and maintaining order.
And Topper’s record goes well beyond this month’s arrest.
Village records show that in 2019, officials credited Topper with assisting Southampton Town Police in detaining and capturing a suspect.
In 2023, Topper and his handler, Officer James Moore, were recognized by the Village after another incident in which the K-9 team helped locate and safely resolve a situation involving a person in crisis. Trustee Robin Brown publicly described the incident as an example of how a trained Southampton Village Police resource could help bring a potentially dangerous situation to a positive conclusion.
Topper and Moore were recognized again in 2024 as Village employees of the month.
This is why the future of Southampton Village’s K-9 program deserves a transparent public discussion as Topper approaches the later stages of his service career.
There have been community conversations about Topper eventually retiring and questions about what comes after him. I have not found an official Village resolution establishing that the K-9 program will end, nor documentation confirming claims that Village leadership has rejected obtaining another police dog.
More recent information actually indicates continued investment in the capability.
The newly formed Southampton Public Safety Foundation announced in September that it plans to provide specialized equipment for a new K-9 vehicle for the Southampton Village Police Department. The Foundation also said a donor-designated contribution will support the department’s K-9 program.
That is encouraging, but it also makes clarity important.
Residents should know what the long-term plan is. Will Topper retire with another trained team prepared to take over? Will there be a gap in service? What will training, acquisition and ongoing operating costs look like? And how much of that support will come from the Village versus private donations?
Those are reasonable public-safety questions.
The East End presents unusual policing challenges. Our communities include beaches, wooded areas, waterfronts, seasonal population surges, major events and long stretches of territory where officers may need specialized resources quickly. A properly trained K-9 team can assist with far more than narcotics enforcement.
Southampton Village’s own experience demonstrates that.
The discussion about what follows Topper should therefore begin with his actual record — not assumptions about what a police K-9 does.
From suspect apprehension to missing-person searches, crisis response and narcotics detection, Topper has provided Southampton Village Police with a capability that officers have repeatedly used in real-world situations.
Whatever decision ultimately comes next, residents deserve to understand the plan and the public-safety capabilities involved.
Topper has earned at least that much.
