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." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth