Pubdate: Mon, 02 Feb 2009
Source: Livingston County Daily Press & Argus (MI)
Copyright: 2009 Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/Kk1qVKJf
Website: http://www.livingstondaily.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4265
Author: Christopher Behnan
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?237 (Drug Dogs)

CANINE TEAM BREAKS GROUND -- PINCKNEY'S FIRST UNIT LOOKS TO SNIFF OUT 
DRUG CRIME

Pinckney Police Department Officer Steve Hart works for  the village 
on a part-time basis, but has spent enough  time there to recognize a 
growth in the use of crack  cocaine, heroin and other drugs in 
southern Livingston  County.

So when Hart met Kizer, a German shepherd now trained  in patrol 
narcotics, it was a no-brainer to welcome the  young dog to the force.

Kizer, now part of the department's first K-9 unit, has  been on 
patrol since September after being certified in  July, but wasn't 
formally introduced to the community  until last week's Village 
Council meeting.

Hart, a dog lover at heart, has been working -- and  living -- with 
Kizer since the dog was 5 months old.  Hart, who sought to form a K-9 
unit, obtained the dog  at no cost from a kennel in Metamora.

Kizer's training was donated by a retired Michigan  State Police sergeant.

"They knew that I didn't have $10,000 for the dog and  the training," 
Hart said.

"People have hobbies of hunting or fishing or building  cars or 
whatever. Mine's dogs," he explained.

The only cost to the township will be an annual  insurance rider of 
less than $300, said Police Chief  Denis Aseltine.

Hart had five dogs at one time, and now has Kizer and a  second 
German shepherd, Jager, who does  search-and-rescue work for the 
nonprofit Michigan  Search Dog Association.

Hart worked with Kizer -- colored black with brown  "socks," or front 
and back legs -- when he was off duty  in Pinckney and at his other 
job, as a part-time  firefighter in Harrison Township, near Mount Clemens.

Kizer's training covers patrol, obedience, tracking,  trailing, area 
search, article search, building search,  handler protection and 
suspect apprehension.

He's trained to detect marijuana, cocaine, crack  cocaine, heroin and 
methamphetamine.

Hart said those traits will be of great use in the  area, where there 
has been a significant increase in  methamphetamine and heroin use in 
recent years from  Stockbridge to Putnam Township.

He said the increased presence of those drugs is a  direct result of 
a lack of police presence in the area,  which has sprawling acres of 
state land and open area.

Some may not consider the Pinckney and surrounding area  a haven for 
drug trading and use.

"It is there. Anybody that wants to believe that it's  not there is 
just fooling themselves," Aseltine said.

"Given the ease with which narcotics can be disguised  and hidden, 
the use of the K-9 dog helps tremendously  in locating them," he added.

Kizer, 2, is one of four police dogs in the county,  including one 
for Fowlerville Community Schools and one  each at the Michigan State 
Police post in Brighton and  at the Livingston County Sheriff's 
Department, Hart  said.

The trained dogs don't come with a small price tag. It  typically 
costs departments about $10,000 in dog  training and equipment, which 
doesn't include six to  eight weeks of payroll paid to the assigned 
handler,  Hart said.

Pinckney police have already fielded a request from  other 
departments to lend Kizer, and plans to continue  offering his 
services to county agencies that request  his help.

But Kizer is no house dog, and is up to the task, Hart said.

"He likes coming to work," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom