Pubdate: Sun, 20 Apr 2008
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 2008 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Contact: http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/submit.asp
Website: http://www.jsonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265
Author: Steven Walters
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?237 (Drug Dogs)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)

LAWMAKER QUESTIONS CREATION OF K-9 UNIT

State Patrol Did Not Seek Legislative Approval

Madison - A key lawmaker says the State Patrol should have sought 
legislative approval before it decided to create a K-9 unit in which 
dogs have been sniffing out illegal drugs in trucks and other 
vehicles for more than a year.

Rep. Kitty Rhoades (R-Hudson), co-chair of the Legislature's Joint 
Finance Committee, wants State Patrol Superintendent Dave Collins, or 
another state Department of Transportation official, to explain how 
the K-9 unit got started without legislative oversight in 2006, how 
it has been paid for so far and what it will cost in the future.

"No one is questioning the value of the program," said Rhoades, who 
learned of it last week. "But how many other programs are there out 
there that state agencies, or state officials, started on their own?"

Collins said he made an enforcement decision to start the K-9 unit, 
which will have seven dogs - one for each regional Patrol post. Five 
dogs are already on the job, and two others are being trained with 
their handlers. Federal highway-safety funds are paying 80% of the 
costs, including salaries of the officers involved.

Collins bristled at the idea that he should have asked the 
Legislature before calling out the dogs.

When the Legislature gave the State Patrol permission to spend 
Federal Motor Safety Carrier Administration money, lawmakers lost the 
right to dictate exactly how that cash is spent, he said.

"That enforcement decision doesn't rise to the level of a Joint 
Finance (Committee) vote," Collins said. "My question if I was Kitty 
Rhoades or a taxpayer is, 'How come the State Patrol wasn't doing 
this in 1979 or '89?' "

The dogs are just another crime-fighting tool - such as new radar 
units or video gear - that troopers and truck inspectors need to do 
their jobs, Collins said. It costs about $12,000 to buy each dog and 
to train it and its handler.

Rhoades said the real issue is oversight by legislators, who are 
required to monitor state spending.

"Any time we're taking in revenue, expending revenue and starting 
programs, some elected official ought to be aware of it," Rhoades 
said. "I would suggest that they get here quickly and explain how 
this happened, and what they are doing."

Rhoades also asked whether Gov. Jim Doyle - Collins' boss - knew the 
State Patrol was using drug-sniffing dogs.

Doyle "isn't involved in the day-to-day administration of the State 
Patrol," Doyle spokeswoman Jessica Erickson said. The governor trusts 
Collins "to make these decisions," she said.

Collins said the dogs have worked out well and been used by local law 
enforcement agencies. Over the past 15 months, the dogs have searched 
650 vehicles, leading to drug seizures in 81 cases.

"These are only seven dogs, spread across 72 counties," Collins said. 
"It's also an outstanding tool for local sheriffs and police chiefs, 
who maybe can't afford a (dog). Our dog is in the area, can do a 
walk-around, when requested, or a sniff for narcotics."

One German shepherd, Ella, sniffed out 1,048 pounds of marijuana in a 
truck stopped Nov. 20 at the West Salem truck scales, for example. 
Another dog assisted in a Milwaukee Amtrak station investigation on 
March 17 that resulted in the confiscation of $32,000 in cash, said 
Patrol Sgt. Paul Matl, field coordinator for the K-9 unit.

Matl was Ella's handler when the marijuana was found in West Salem.

He said troopers and truck inspectors don't routinely call in the 
drug-sniffing dogs, but follow a specific protocol that identifies 
suspicious vehicles.

Vehicles on Wisconsin highways "should be hauling legitimate cargo 
across the United States - not transporting illegal drugs that are 
the scourge of our communities and our neighborhoods," Collins said.

In 2007, State Patrol officers made 1,611 drug arrests - a one-year 
increase of about 19%, he said.

When a dog finds drugs, it is rewarded with its favorite toy - and 
usually a tug-of-war game with its handler, Matl said.

"They live for playing tug-of-war with that toy," he said.

The State Patrol's unit includes five German shepherds, one Dutch 
shepherd and a Belgian Malinois.

Patrol officers are troopers and truck inspectors. Most of the dogs 
will be assigned to inspectors.

State troopers in neighboring states had K-9 units before Wisconsin. 
Minnesota has 11 dogs; Iowa has four. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake