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JPD 'HIRES' TIGGER TO ELIMINATE DRUGS IN AREA

They have always said that dog is man's best friend and in Jacksonville the police are relying on man's best friend to help clean up crime and stop a problem that is quickly growing by epic proportions.  "We have experienced a huge methamphetamine use in our area," explained Police Chief Tommy Thompson, who spearheaded the effort to get a drug sniffing dog added to his force.

"Like it is throughout the South, methamphetamines are becoming our number one problem.  It is at the root of a lot of the problems we investigate, from petty theft and breaking and entering, to assault and robbery.

"This will at least give us a weapon in the war that might help us get a jump on things."

Hoping to place a Band-Aid on the wound and stem the flow of drugs and the problems associated with them, Thompson looked toward neighboring communities to see what proactive measures their police departments were taking.

Throughout his research, he ran across one constant in the whole deal.  Regardless of the limitations placed on them by manpower and funding, each unit had recently been equipped with a canine to reduce the threat of the criminal element.

"We are one of the last departments around the area to branch out into this line of police work," added Thompson.  "We felt it would be highly beneficial to the citizens of Jacksonville, so we checked into the matter to see what it might cost us."

Initial checks indicated the cost would run somewhere around $15,000.  Thompson admitted this was a little rich for the city.

"When we first started talking about getting a drug dog," explained Thompson, "the price started around $15,000.  We checked around and found one at about $9,000, but even that seemed a little high."

Finally, after months of reviewing, Thompson contacted officials with The Canine Detection Training Center/Auburn University at McClellan.  The group informed him that they could work it out to supply the department with a dog for $6,000.

"We can take the dog into schools, area motels, roadblocks and parking lots throughout the city," added Thompson, defining parameters on how they went about choosing the particular kind of dog.  "Wherever there is reason to use a drug sniffing dog, we now have that option."

Thompson alerted Auburn that they wanted an animal that would not bite, to rule out any chance of lawsuits against the city for wrongful injury.

They were pleased with what they were provided, a yellow Labrador Retriever with a motherly disposition and a nose like a computer that can sniff out even the most minute of smells and determine if an individual is or has been transporting drugs or has drugs on his person.  After locating the dog, Thompson had one more major hurdle - finding an officer to take the dog on as a partner and all that such a move entails.

Despite his limited experience thus far on the Jacksonville force, the choice was an obvious one.

Born in Hamilton, Ohio, Scott Hodges' animals had always been a part of his life.  Throughout his journey, he was rarely found without an animal in tow.  He had a soft spot for creatures of the four-legged variety, preferring dogs over people in most instances.

After graduating high school in 1989, Hodges mapped out a course for a career in the military.  He envisioned himself working with the military police as a dog handler.  It was something he had always been interested in and the one career dream that had outlasted all the rest.

Unfortunately, Uncle Sam had other ideas for Hodges, sending him instead in a deployable unit, ready at a moment's notice to join the mission wherever his team was needed.  The kind of uncertainty of place and purpose that such an assignment created, was not conducive to providing a good life for a dog, let alone a dog handler.  So, throughout his military career, Hodges was forced to place this dream on the back burner.

"When you are traveling the world on different missions," explained Hodges, "there is not much time to spend taking care of a dog or working with a dog to keep its training up to date.  I traveled to Panama twice, to Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Grenada and other areas.  So, any thoughts I had entertained about being a dog handler were pretty well wiped away."

During his military stint, fate intervened in Hodges' life in a way he could not have possibly expected, but in such a way that it set a series of events in motion to bring him full circle to the place he always believed he would be.

While stationed at Fort McClellan, Hodges met and married Charity Delane of Wellborn.

The Hodges opted to start their life together close to her family, so they bought a home in Calhoun County.  Still, even in this new environment, the opportunity to pull his dog handling career aspirations back to the front never manifested itself.

Little did Hodges know, however, that he took one giant step closer to that destination when he joined the Jacksonville Police Department six years ago.

"It was basically what I had done with the military police in the Army," explained Hodges.  "It gave me a chance to help others and make a difference in their lives.  Any thoughts of being a dog handler were pushed aside, especially after I learned the force did not employ any canine units."

Hodges let his desire for this form of employment be known through passing comments and discussions.  He never truly believed it would come to pass, but was not willing to cast it aside completely.  This persistence and refusal to close the door to his heart's desire was about to pay off in a major way.

"When Chief ( Thompson ) asked me if I wanted to work with a drug dog," explained Hodges, "I jumped at the chance.  This was, after all, the one thing I had always wanted to do.  It was what I felt most comfortable doing."

On July 21, Hodges traveled to Auburn's McClellan outpost to attend orientation and training.  He was there for a month, working at first with all the animals and then more and more time with a special dog - Tigger.

Tigger, the dog placed with Hodges and approved as the community drug cleaner, was so named because when he was little he bounced around on his hind legs and tail like his namesake on Winnie The Pooh.  Certified to sniff methamphetamines, cocaine products, heroin products and marijuana products, Tigger lives fulltime with Hodges and his family.  Treated almost like royalty, Tigger has a specially equipped car to ride in and is treated to only the best of food and supplies.

"We want to make sure that he is always ready to do his job at a moment's notice," explained Hodges.  "We shelled out a great deal of money for Tigger, so we want to make sure we do everything to get a return on our investment."

Still in the "feeling each other out process", Tigger and Hodges can be found cruising the streets of Jacksonville on the 7 p.m.  to 3 a.m.  shift.  Always ready to perform their duties and take drugs off the streets of the city, this crime fighting duo merges the best of both worlds to form the ultimate police unit and the ultimate bond of loyalty.

"The culmination of the dream has been every bit as good as I expected," explained Hodges.  It has really been interesting and I am looking forward to help Tigger, help me, stamp out drugs around town."