These Dogs Nose Around, Seeking Drugs

Hunting for dope is all a game for Jet, a four-year veteran of the Orange County Probation Department.

The 7-year-old German shepherd, one of two dogs owned by the department, eagerly sniffs closets and cabinets.

Jet will be showcased next week when more than 700 parole and probation officers meet in Garden Grove for the American Probation and Parole Assn.’s winter training conference.

The biannual conference gives probation and parole officers the opportunity to exchange ideas.

Jet and his handler, deputy probation officer Jerry Maxwell, will be among the highlights of the four-day conference because probation and parole departments have an increased interest in narcotics-detecting dogs.

Orange County Probation Department officials say their two-dog, two-officer crew is essential for conducting random searches of individuals on probation.

“You might have four to six deputies spending four hours searching a whole house,” said Ed Harrison, who oversees the canine unit.

“We can take a canine team through a whole house.... This dog thinks there’s methamphetamine in the cabinet, this thing gets wrapped in half an hour.”

As dealers find creative hiding spots, such as behind car radios or inside dirty diapers and toys, uncovering narcotics can be one of the most difficult parts of those searches.

The dogs can also sniff out the tiniest doses of drugs -- and even narcotics that are no longer present. A typical dose of methamphetamine, for example, is smaller than a pack of sweetener, Harrison said.

In the last year, Jet has conducted 201 searches, leading to 45 arrests and the seizure of 2,347 grams of narcotics. Christa, a 4-year-old Dutch shepherd handled by Matthew Bolton, has done 250 searches, resulting in 47 arrests and 250 grams of confiscated narcotics.

Last fall, both dogs helped find $733,000 tainted with narcotics that was used in drug trafficking.

“Results speak wonders,” Harrison said.

For the dogs, finding narcotics is as simple as playing a game of fetch.

Officers start training by playing fetch with a pipe, later stuffing narcotics into the pipe for the dog to get accustomed to the drug’s odor. The pipe is then thrown into weeds, forcing the dog to use his nose, said Maxwell.

“Finding narcotics has to be a game,” Maxwell said. When it stops being a game, the dogs stop searching.

When Jet successfully scratches or barks at a scent and locates a narcotic, Maxwell tosses him a chew toy. They tug and tussle, which keeps Jet’s play drive high. Then it’s back to work, he said.

What makes the dogs so successful is their ability to compartmentalize odors. Instead of smelling soup, dogs smell the peas, carrots and potatoes, Maxwell said. That ability allows them to detect narcotics odors that, to humans, are masked in a dirty diaper.

In fact, Jet and Christa’s track record puts their services in demand. They have been sought after by the Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, state Department of Justice and police agencies in Orange County. The dogs help out as part of a mutual-aid effort.

Their reputations have prompted other departments to call Orange County when trying to decide whether they should start canine units.

“I’m really looking forward to hearing how they’re running it,” said Karen Birch, a probation officer in Putnam County, about an hour north of New York.

Birch, president of the New York State Probation Officers Assn., relies on the availability of the police’s lone dog to help with narcotics detection.

Despite dogs’ proven success, probation agencies in Southern California have cut their canine units in recent years.

Riverside County dropped its program about six years ago, citing budget and staff problems.

San Bernardino’s Probation Department canceled its program several years ago after sheriff’s dog handlers successfully sued the county for time spent off-duty caring for the dogs.

The Orange County Probation Department, on the other hand, added a second dog to its canine unit in 2001, after the county had an increase in the number of drug offenders on probation, said Stephanie Lewis, the county’s chief probation officer.

“They’ve been so highly effective that it has been one of our priorities to maintain this operation,” Lewis said.

At Monday’s presentation, Harrison said, he is expecting questions about how to start a program.

It takes “tremendous dedication” of resources and commitment to train handlers and their dogs and pay for special equipment and veterinary care, he said.

The dogs cost $5,000 to $7,000 and are imported from Europe, where they receive police certification. But, Harrison said, it all pays off because dogs can search for drugs with less manpower -- and do it more accurately.

“When you do that kind of comparison, it’s easy to see that these types of programs are extremely cost effective,” Harrison said.