Pubdate: Tue, 18 Feb 2003
Source: Daily Home, The (Talladega,  AL)
Copyright: 2003 Consolidated Publishing
Contact:  http://www.dailyhome.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1632
Note:  also listed as contact
Author: Joe Schweizer

COUNCIL HEARS DRUG DOG PROPOSAL

A former Childersburg police officer is willing to give the city's Police
Department a dog trained to sniff out drugs, provided the city takes
responsibility for the dog's care. Jeremy Lett brought the dog, a 5-year-old
German shepherd called Mr. K, to City Hall Monday. Lett and the dog gave the
City Council a demonstration where the dog found marijuana and crack cocaine
hidden at various places in the hall and in vehicles outside.

Lett, who now works for the state Highway Patrol in Tuscaloosa County, said
he will donate the dog because he will receive a new one and will not be
able to look after both.

The officer said a dog would have benefited the Childersburg department
during his tenure in 1999. Now that he is in a position to donate the dog -
Mr. K was recently surplussed - the officer will gladly do so.

Lett said that to receive the dog, the city has assume legal liability for
it and provide a kennel with a concrete slab and house for it to live in.

This will make the city liable should the dog accidentally bite or attack
someone. However, the dog is not trained to attack people, though it will
protect its handler. This lack of training will limit the city's liability,
Lett said.

The dog can detect marijuana, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, ecstasy and
any money that is tainted with such drugs, he said.

Dealers often store large sums of money with their drugs. If a police dog
finds money tainted with drugs, the money's owner has to prove the money
came from a legitimate source or the authorities can seize it.

Lett said a large amount of money is taken this way.

Councilman David Dunlap expressed concern over this possible use. He said he
had heard a statistic stating 90 percent of all currency has at least minute
traces of drugs on them.

Lett said studies have shown these statistics false. The dog would not react
to money taken from the average person's wallet.

Dunlap said he would need to see these studies, which Lett said he could
provide.

Police Chief Chuck Brown said the dog, which is certified, would serve a
city the size of Childersburg well. The city is not large enough to have a
full-scale canine unit with a variety of police dogs but is large enough to
deal with a number of drug cases.

Brown said the department currently calls upon the Harpersville or Sylacauga
police departments when a dog is needed. The latter recently retired its
drug dog.

The chief said that in addition to food and medical expenses, the city would
have to pay to have an officer trained to use the dog and provide a vehicle
to transport it.

The dog requires a regular steroid for weak muscles in its legs. The dog,
however, is in good overall condition, has its certificate of health, and
does not suffer problems usually associated with its breed. Most drug dogs
are used until their eighth to 10th year, Lett said.

Brown said that if the city takes the dog, its officer will have to keep it
at home. Having the dog at an outside kennel at City Hall will jeopardize
the dog's life.

The council, Brown and Lett discussed in what situations a drug dog can be
used. The courts ruled that a warrant is not needed to search a mobile
vehicle if a dog reacts to it, but it is the practice of the Childersburg
department to impound such vehicles and get a warrant in these situations,
Brown said.

The courts reasoned that the dog is not really searching the vehicle but
sniffing the air around it. A search warrant is needed to bring a dog into a
home. Dogs are generally not used on people, Lett said.

Mayor B.J. Meeks said that dog, if gotten, would be used on vehicles only if
there was probable cause and in searches of school lockers.

Meeks said the council will further discuss and research the dog before
deciding whether to take him.

The city had two police dogs in the 1990s. The dogs were given up because
the city had problems finding capable officers to use them, Meeks said.

In 1999, Mr. K was responsible for the seizing of about $50,000 in cash and
property, 19 pounds of marijuana and 4 ounces of cocaine, according to state
documents.

The dog originally cost more than $6,000, Lett said.
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