THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 17, 1995 TAG: 9503170566
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KILL DEVIL HILLS LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
More than 20 of North Carolina's most ferocious law enforcers started a three-day state certification process Thursday.
On leashes and chains, in boxes and back seats, the police dogs waited excitedly alongside Colington Road to practice tracking, trailing and apprehending suspects.
By Saturday afternoon, the K-9s will have completed their required training.
``Dogs really are invaluable in police work. They can perform so many different services which aid the officers,'' said Kill Devil Hills Police Officer Mark Grant, whose partner is Skeeter, a 6-year-old yellow Lab.
``Once an officer has suspicions about a situation, the dogs can really help confirm circumstances,'' Grant said. ``Skeeter has found four or five things in cars and at the scenes of crimes that I missed completely. I looked in the same areas in which he found the stuff. But I didn't look hard enough.
``Dogs don't miss much.''
During this week's training, sponsored by the North Carolina Police Dog Association, K-9 officers from at least eight cities and counties across the state brought their dogs to be certified. Dare, Currituck, Henderson and Stokes county officers each brought dogs. Other animals came from Salisbury, Spring Hope, Rocky Mount and Walnut Cove.
Most of the dogs are between 3 and 5 years old. Training sometimes begins when the animals are only nine months. Breeds included black and yellow Labs, German shepherds, bloodhounds, Rottweilers and Belgian malinois.
Morning training sessions began near the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, where dogs were sent into the field near the First Flight Airstrip to show their skills in obedience.
In the afternoon, dogs practiced tracking suspects, finding guns and trailing fugitives. Today, they will search for drugs.
``We're going to Currituck to an auto lot where we'll place narcotics in some of the cars,'' Grant said. ``Dogs will practice sniffing them out and finding other evidence. They'll learn how to perform vehicle searches.''
On Saturday, the animals will apprehend suspects. ``We put a person in a full body suit and tell them to run away from the dog,'' Grant said.
``The dogs learn to chase that person down and tackle him until their handler can get there. They also learn how to stop - be called off - if the suspect stops running. These dogs are very responsive to our commands.''
Evidence work involves officers placing bank bags or weapons in a building or field and having dogs sniff their way to the objects. Dogs' sense of smell is so acute, Grant said, that they can detect a single bullet in one of 100 school lockers or discover a bomb in a huge office complex. Police K-9s can find everything from people to pot.
``Hendersonville police have had some impressive seizures of cocaine with the dogs. The highway patrol has an entire K-9 apprehension unit just to work I-95,'' Grant said. ``In police work, dogs can be great partners.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
DREW C. WILSON
Staff
Lonnie Martin of the Stokes County Sheriff's Department waits to
practice with Bruizer. Bruizer, 3, has 34 convictions.
KEYWORDS: WORKING DOGS by CNB