It was satisfying to learn Bullet, the new K-9 officer in the Butler County sheriff’s office, is having an impact on crime. A front-page article Tuesday detailed how Bullet, with his handler, Sgt. Harry Callithen, have found a missing teen and were involved in drug searches, including several at the county prison and at several schools.

There has been impressive support in the community for both the sheriff department’s dog and the two dogs added to the city of Butler’s police force.

The city’s K-9 additions were made possible by a grass-roots fundraising effort kicked off by Island neighborhood businessman Denny Offstein’s offer of a $10,000 interest-free loan to launch the program. Since that first step, the city’s K-9 effort has raised about $95,000 for the purchase, training and care of two police dogs.

Community support is strong for the K-9 additions to both the sheriff’s department and the city police force. There is widespread belief that police dogs will help reduce drug activity in the city and across the county. The sheriffs’ dog will be a help to the county drug task force.

The sheriff’s department’s 2-year-old German short-haired pointer also is helping to keep drugs out of the county prison. Bullet has done 10 searches in the prison and three at schools.

Commenting on the dog’s frequent drug sweeps in the prison, warden Rick Shaffer said that the more the prisoners see the dog, the more they will think twice about trying to bring drugs into the prison.

Shaffer’s right. And the same attitude should apply to city streets. With three new police dogs working, there should be a daily K-9 presence on Main Street and throughout the city.

Seeing police dogs around the city should be expected to convince would-be drug dealers to move off Main Street — and maybe out of town — if police dogs are a regular presence.

It’s expected that the city police department will make sure its two K-9 officers are seen around town, not only on Main Street but in neighborhoods where drug activity is an issue.

One city police dog, Gunner, has been on the job only since November, and the other K-9, Blade, is completing training with his handler, so there are reasons for little police dog visibility this winter. But in the coming weeks and months, residents and business owners should reasonably expect to be seeing police dogs around the city.

A police dog in a police cruiser can be a deterrent to crime. But a more effective message will be sent when a K-9 and his handler are seen walking the sidewalks and alleyways of the city.

It should be possible that during down time, Bullet and Callithen could leave the county Government Center and walk up and down Main Street to send a visible message that doing drug business or other crimes in Butler has become a risker proposition. City officials should talk to the sheriff’s department to see if Bullet could be part of the effort to make police dogs highly visible in Butler.

It’s to be expected that the city’s two police dogs and the sheriff’s department’s K-9 will be valuable tools in solving crimes, detecting illegal drugs and finding missing persons. But the dogs’ crime-deterrent impact can be magnified with a visible presence on Main Street and other streets throughout the city.

Local residents and businesses have been strong supporters of the new police dogs. That support likely will continue, especially if the dogs are a routine sight around the city.