Dogs Trained to Sniff Out Drugs Used on the Job

Larry Katz trains dogs to sniff out narcotics--not for use by the police or the Border Patrol, but for companies concerned about screening their employees to see if drug use is occurring at work.

Employee drug abuse recently has received widespread national publicity, as well as local exposure, because of incidents at General Dynamics and the nuclear power plant at San Onofre.

Katz, one of only three professionals in the state licensed to train security dogs, is in the final stages of training three specialty dogs and their handlers for use if certain area companies decide to attack employee drug problems using his animals.

Katz, who is reticent about the companies he is negotiating with, said they “fear the bad publicity and paranoia from the workers, and don’t want any word out until they have finally decided this is the way to go.”

But his prospective clients, he said, represent a who’s who of San Diego’s most prestigious firms.

They include private security companies, railroads, shipyards, nuclear power institutions, the much-sought-after “Silicon Valley” type businesses in Rancho Bernardo and Carlsbad, and at least one newspaper. In addition, inquiries have come from companies in five states.

“I think we’re going to need 20 dogs trained now,” Katz said, adding that their “success rate in finding drugs during tests is 95%.

“And we’ll need enough handlers to work with them effectively. There’s been that much interest,” he said. “We sent out a questionnaire to 100 San Diego firms asking first, if they had a problem, and second, if they did, would they be interested in seeing us demonstrate the virtues of dog searches on company premises.”

Katz has not compiled the results, but the first 10 respondents said they had no drug problem but would be interested in seeing the demonstrations nevertheless.

“That shows me they know they have problems but can’t think of a way to cope with them,” he said. “Maybe our approach will give them some new ideas.

“It allows companies to keep their employees clean, warn them in advance that they’d better be clean when they get to work and, if there is a problem, to keep it in-house, without involving the police or a lot of publicity.”

If those working at a company agree to the searches before being hired, their rights are better protected; there are no surprises--everyone will know they are going to be subject to a search at any time, Katz said.

Katz has pondered the legal implications of using dogs to sniff out workers for drugs.

“The presence of a dog . . . at gates where employees enter and leave . . . is not improper,” according to a legal analysis of Katz’ proposal authored by Chuck Staff, his partner in Centurion, the only state-licensed man-dog security outfit in San Diego County.

Among other jobs, Staff has worked as a La Mesa police officer, where he developed the department’s canine program, and served as an adviser to police departments in Mexico as well as Southern California. He also has trained security dogs for private corporations, but for security uses, not drug detection.

“Regulatory inspections are an administrative procedure to ensure the capability, morale and health of the work force,” Katz informs prospective clients. “They are not designed to apprehend lawbreakers.”

Katz sees his trained dogs as a “humane” approach to curbing drug abuse on the job--and a way to cash in on an untapped and potentially vast market to stem an alarming trend in American society. He hopes to coordinate with counseling programs and choose firms for his programs that will agree to send employees for therapy rather than firing them or reporting them for arrest.

“Of course, once the contract is agreed upon with the firm, it’s up to them to do what they will with employees in violation,” he acknowledged. “But one thing we know is--nothing else has worked. If someone shows up with drugs on him knowing he might be searched by a dog, he probably has a problem that needs to be dealt with, anyway. That’s really pushing it.”

Jolee Brunton, a clinical psychologist with the El Cajon Police Department who specializes in employee-management relations, said she feared the use of search dogs would arouse considerable distrust at many companies.

“It’s a very accusatory approach,” she said. “How management would deal with their workers in such an accusatory atmosphere would really concern me. Frankly, it’s a radical approach.

“But if management keeps employees involved in a program from the start, it might be quite effective. Drug abuse on the job is costing this country millions. So it’s critical to be careful about taking the right approach.”

Training for the Katz dogs will be far more sophisticated than that undertaken for those used by police and the Border Patrol, he said. “Those dogs are trained to find 12 pounds of marijuana--that’s their purpose,” he said. “And it doesn’t take an extremely special dog to do that kind of work--that’s an overpowering odor to a dog.”

Dogs used by the companies would be sniffing workers who might be carrying a single marijuana cigarette or quarter-gram of cocaine in his pocket--a far more exacting and challenging task.

Staff claims trained dogs can search a 50-yard corridor of lockers in six minutes; they are capable of making swift decisions based on their olfactory senses, he said.

“Surprisingly, it hasn’t been as difficult to do the training as I thought it might be,” Katz said. “But the key trait is concentration--every dog has a sensitive nose, but disciplining him to use it effectively is the key to success.”

Choosing handlers--the humans who will monitor the canine searches--is another challenge, Katz said. Under his guidelines, two humans must accompany each search. “A poorly trained leader makes a search of this kind totally ineffective,” he said. “When you’re seeking drugs in such small amounts, the handler has to be as acutely aware as the dog is, or all the time spent training the dog is wasted.

“For example, if a guy has a little grass hidden in the top of his locker, the breeze from the cross-ventilation sends the scent of the drug to a different location. The dog heads for the smell--the handlers have to realize that where the dog is headed is not exactly where the drugs are because of such a factor.”

Dogs have always been a part of Katz’s life--his father and grandfather ran kennels and trained the animals for uses from security to obedience shows. Katz, 35, opened the Centurion Kennels four years ago, shortly after moving here from New York.

“I can’t remember a time when my life didn’t revolve around dogs,” he said. “And it’s exciting to be in on the ground floor of such a new and, I don’t mind saying it, positive use for the animals.”