Beating Crime by a Nose

Jimmy and Bill are partners in the U.S. Border Patrol. Jimmy is good at his work--a gung-ho detective with a nose for drugs. It is Bill’s job to keep the excitable Jimmy on a short leash.

Bill Kocan and Jimmy have been at it for a decade, or 70 dog years.

“He just wants to work, work, work,” Kocan said of Jimmy, one of the longest-serving members of the Border Patrol’s canine detection unit. “He’s got this hyper vigilance. He’s keyed up constantly. Every morning, I’ll be getting ready and he’ll be waiting at the bottom of the stairs with this look of ‘Are we going to work? Are we going to work?’

“If he could only talk . . .”

Bill does the talking, a machine gun barrage of Brooklynese. “I have two modes--on and off. When I’m off, I’m sleeping.”

Jimmy, no less intense, speaks with his nose.

Since 1991, this 67-pound Belgian Malinois has, by the Border Patrol’s count, been responsible for the discovery of 332 illegal immigrants and almost $11.42 million worth of drugs at the Interstate 5 checkpoint south of San Clemente.

He has sniffed out the stuff in glove compartments and trunks, in false floors and gas tanks. In packages wrapped in cayenne pepper, mustard and coffee grounds. In vacuum-sealed cans, and once, at the bottom of a working car battery that had been modified to hold 3 pounds of tar heroin.

When Jimmy found it, he calmly sat down and stared at the battery until humans around him realized what he was trying to tell them.

“He never ceases to amaze me,” Kocan said.

The Border Patrol began using dogs to ferret out people and drugs in the late 1980s. An experiment then, today it is part of everyday business.

Last year, the agency’s 230 dogs detected $840 million in contraband across the country. In the San Diego sector, dogs were responsible for 70% of the drugs seized in 2000.

The dogs inspect a tiny fraction of the 5,000-plus vehicles that pass through the Interstate 5 checkpoint each hour. Still, it’s a dangerous game. Nationally, two dogs have been assassinated. One was poisoned in Texas. Another was lured from an agent’s backyard in San Diego County and shot in 1998.

The dogs work the beat, on average, for 7 1/2 years. Jimmy’s tenure is what sets him apart. He started as a pup and, at 11, shows no sign of slowing down.

“These dogs don’t do well in retirement,” said Kocan, who coordinates the training of all the sector’s canines. “They’re not yard dogs.”

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The Belgian Malinois is bred to herd cattle and sheep. Their tremendous energy and keen sense of smell make them highly prized--and expensive--drug-sniffing dogs.

Jimmy came from Holland and cost the U.S. government $4,000. He is trilingual, responding to commands in English, Dutch and German.

He is compensated with care and feeding, praise and a steady supply of rubber toys.

Jimmy lives with Kocan and sleeps in the master bedroom. Jimmy is a part of Kocan’s life, as important as a child. Kocan keeps a photo of Jimmy in his wallet. He has passed up vacations because he didn’t want to kennel his partner. He bought a second Belgian Malinois so Jimmy would have a friend.

“You know, the dog is man’s best friend, but they’re only with us for 13, 15 years,” said Kocan, who is 41. “Horses can live 30 years. Some parrots live 80 years. A sea turtle can be 150 years old. Wouldn’t it be great if these guys”--meaning Jimmy--”could exist with us that long?

“When you meet someone, you always ask questions to see if you’ll be compatible. Things like ‘Do you like to work out? Do you smoke?’ I always ask, ‘Do you like dogs? How much do you like dogs?’ ”

One girlfriend feared her cats wouldn’t get along with Kocan’s dogs. He agreed.

Kocan kept the dogs.

“I thought it was probably for the best.”