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battle for House District 24
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Canine cop: Sniffing out the drugs |
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“Charlie” the Newberg-Dundee Police Department’s drug sniffing
K9 officer, was purchased through donations |
By Schellene
Clendenin, Newberg Graphic
reporter
E-mail Schellene at
sclendenin@eaglenewspapers.com
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Charlie has a great nose.
He loves kids and is ecstatic when he can play with his chew toy.
Active and playful, these traits that are intrinsic in his
personality and those like him, and are what make the 2-year-old so
effective at detecting narcotics.
That and he loves his chew toy.
Charlie is a golden Labrador purchased for the Newberg-Dundee
Police Department with funds donated by community members and the
Newberg School District. His handler is Newberg-Dundee K9 Officer
Heather Corum.
“Drugs dogs are extremely affective at finding narcotics that are
hidden from plan view,” said Newberg-Dundee Deputy Chief Brian
Casey. “Charlie has been in service for about a month and has
already shown signs of being very affective in detecting narcotics.
The dog has successfully searched vehicles, property and buildings.”
He’s already made a visit to Newberg High School before the
students began attending classes, just to be sure the school was
clean of narcotics, said Kirsten Breitmeier, assistant principal at
NHS.
“He’s a beautiful dog, hilarious to watch and has a lot of energy,”
she said.
Charlie, trained to search for marijuana, heroin, methamphetamine
and cocaine, has also been used in numerous traffic stops, Casey
said. He’s even been invited by Sheridan Correction Facility
officials to search some of the inmate’s cells.
At NHS, Charlie and Corum spent at least four hours during two days
time searching the high school for drugs, Breitmeier said. Corum
planted drugs around the school to keep Charlie from getting bored
with the search as no other drugs were found.
“Finding drugs is like a game for him,” she said.
The name “Charlie” was given to him at birth by his breeders,
Adlerhorst International Inc., based out of Riverside, Calif., a
vendor that specializes in public safety canines.
Breitmeier, who was on hand to watch a demonstration of the dog’s
abilities, said Corum, who was unavailable for comment, tells the
lab to search for drugs, then lets him go. If he finds anything, he
scratches the ground near where drugs are scented.
“He goes crazy,” Breitmeier said.
At present, students are speculating on when Charlie is coming for a
search, what he does and what types of drugs he finds. Still, they
enjoy petting him when he comes for a visit.
“It’s hard not to like him because he’s so friendly. and he loves
being around people,” Breitmeier said.
Breitmeier said she is pleased with Charlie and Corum’s willingness
to be available to come and work with the high school when she’s
needed.
The police department was able to pay for the dog, training and equipment
through community donations. Nearly $15,000 was donated by anonymous
citizens, local businesses and the Newberg School District, Casey
said.
“Enough cannot be said about those who contributed to the drug dog
program,” Casey said. “The support for this program reflects well on
Newberg and indicates how committed the community and schools are in
the fight against drugs.”
Donors made it possible for the police department to purchase and deploy
a drug dog. “With the implementation of a drug dog our ability to
find and deter narcotics from being brought onto Newberg School
District campuses will be dramatically improved,” Casey said.
“Additionally, the drug dog will be used during search warrants and
for drug interdiction traffic stops all in an effort to make Newberg
a better and safer place to work and live.”
The cost of implementing, maintaining and replacing a drug dog is
expensive and officials from the police department continue to seek
donations from the community. Anyone interested in making a donation
to the program is invited to call Casey at 503-537-1228. |
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From
Oct. 4,
2006, Newberg Graphic
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