LAWMAKER QUESTIONS CREATION OF K-9 UNIT

State Patrol Did Not Seek Legislative Approval

Madison - A key lawmaker says the State Patrol should have sought
legislative approval before it decided to create a K-9 unit in which
dogs have been sniffing out illegal drugs in trucks and other
vehicles for more than a year.

Rep. Kitty Rhoades (R-Hudson), co-chair of the Legislature's Joint
Finance Committee, wants State Patrol Superintendent Dave Collins, or
another state Department of Transportation official, to explain how
the K-9 unit got started without legislative oversight in 2006, how
it has been paid for so far and what it will cost in the future.

"No one is questioning the value of the program," said Rhoades, who
learned of it last week. "But how many other programs are there out
there that state agencies, or state officials, started on their own?"

Collins said he made an enforcement decision to start the K-9 unit,
which will have seven dogs - one for each regional Patrol post. Five
dogs are already on the job, and two others are being trained with
their handlers. Federal highway-safety funds are paying 80% of the
costs, including salaries of the officers involved.

Collins bristled at the idea that he should have asked the
Legislature before calling out the dogs.

When the Legislature gave the State Patrol permission to spend
Federal Motor Safety Carrier Administration money, lawmakers lost the
right to dictate exactly how that cash is spent, he said.

"That enforcement decision doesn't rise to the level of a Joint
Finance (Committee) vote," Collins said. "My question if I was Kitty
Rhoades or a taxpayer is, 'How come the State Patrol wasn't doing
this in 1979 or '89?' "

The dogs are just another crime-fighting tool - such as new radar
units or video gear - that troopers and truck inspectors need to do
their jobs, Collins said. It costs about $12,000 to buy each dog and
to train it and its handler.

Rhoades said the real issue is oversight by legislators, who are
required to monitor state spending.

"Any time we're taking in revenue, expending revenue and starting
programs, some elected official ought to be aware of it," Rhoades
said. "I would suggest that they get here quickly and explain how
this happened, and what they are doing."

Rhoades also asked whether Gov. Jim Doyle - Collins' boss - knew the
State Patrol was using drug-sniffing dogs.

Doyle "isn't involved in the day-to-day administration of the State
Patrol," Doyle spokeswoman Jessica Erickson said. The governor trusts
Collins "to make these decisions," she said.

Collins said the dogs have worked out well and been used by local law
enforcement agencies. Over the past 15 months, the dogs have searched
650 vehicles, leading to drug seizures in 81 cases.

"These are only seven dogs, spread across 72 counties," Collins said.
"It's also an outstanding tool for local sheriffs and police chiefs,
who maybe can't afford a (dog). Our dog is in the area, can do a
walk-around, when requested, or a sniff for narcotics."

One German shepherd, Ella, sniffed out 1,048 pounds of marijuana in a
truck stopped Nov. 20 at the West Salem truck scales, for example.
Another dog assisted in a Milwaukee Amtrak station investigation on
March 17 that resulted in the confiscation of $32,000 in cash, said
Patrol Sgt. Paul Matl, field coordinator for the K-9 unit.

Matl was Ella's handler when the marijuana was found in West Salem.

He said troopers and truck inspectors don't routinely call in the
drug-sniffing dogs, but follow a specific protocol that identifies
suspicious vehicles.

Vehicles on Wisconsin highways "should be hauling legitimate cargo
across the United States - not transporting illegal drugs that are
the scourge of our communities and our neighborhoods," Collins said.

In 2007, State Patrol officers made 1,611 drug arrests - a one-year
increase of about 19%, he said.

When a dog finds drugs, it is rewarded with its favorite toy - and
usually a tug-of-war game with its handler, Matl said.

"They live for playing tug-of-war with that toy," he said.

The State Patrol's unit includes five German shepherds, one Dutch
shepherd and a Belgian Malinois.

Patrol officers are troopers and truck inspectors. Most of the dogs
will be assigned to inspectors.

State troopers in neighboring states had K-9 units before Wisconsin.
Minnesota has 11 dogs; Iowa has four.