Pubdate: Wed, 05 Jun 2002
Source: Chattanooga Times Free Press (TN)
Copyright: 2002 Chattanooga Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.timesfreepress.com/index.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/992
Author: Nikki Middlebrooks

LADY TAKES BITE OUT OF DRUG CRIMES IN DADE COUNTY

TRENTON, Ga. -- One corporal with the Dade County Sheriff's Department has 
participated in more than 100 drug busts in the five months she has been 
with the department.

"We expected good results," said Lt. Robert Reynolds. "It wasn't good, it 
was great."

Lady, a 5-year-old short-haired, golden retriever, is the only dog in the 
K-9 unit in Dade County. She has been conditioned to detect the presence of 
several drug odors, said Lt. Reynolds, Lady's handler.

While she has participated in more than 100 drug busts, Lady has been 
responsible for 97 of them, Lt. Reynolds said. She detects the odors of 
drugs including marijuana, black tar heroin, methamphetamine, hashish, 
cocaine and byproducts of these drugs.

She is trained for passive response, meaning when she detects one of the 
odors she has been conditioned to detect, she will sit and look at the 
handler, Lt. Reynolds said.

The 59-pound dog now has a 98 percent accuracy rate, he said. The minimum 
rate for a drug detection dog is 85 percent.

Sheriff Philip Street said Lady was one of the best crime fighting 
investments he's ever made.

"I think it's sending a message out there about what we're doing," he said. 
"We've made a bunch of arrests because of her that we wouldn't have been 
able to."

Lady initially came to the Dade County Sheriff's Department four years ago, 
but was not productive in drug detection, Lt. Reynolds said. She was 
transferred to another department in the state and still did not produce, 
then moved to a third department before she was offered back to Dade County 
and to Lt. Reynolds, who agreed to head the K-9 unit.

Lt. Reynolds had worked with the K-9 unit and was in law enforcement while 
in the U.S. Navy.

"It was my prior experience and her training that made it work this time," 
he said.

Lady was sent to train for a month each in Texas and Savannah, Ga. Lt. 
Reynolds then joined Lady in training in Chatham County, where he lived in 
the kennel with Lady for three weeks. "We became the best of buddies," he said.

Now Lady is the best tool to get drugs off Dade County's interstate, Lt. 
Reynolds said.

"When she says it's there, it's there," he said. "She's got the drug 
dealers thinking twice about transporting through Dade County."

If Lady responds, it's probable cause to search a vehicle, he said.

"We don't need a warrant," Lt. Reynolds said. "We use videos in our cars, 
so there's not question at court time that she responded."

Recently she alerted police to a pound of marijuana in a child restraint 
seat in the back seat of a car during a routine traffic stop, Lt. Reynolds 
said.

"Normally an officer without a dog wouldn't know there was drugs in a car," 
he said. "They say she's the best sniffer from Texas to Savannah."
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