TRAINED DOGS TO SNIFF OUT DRUGS IN PROVINCIAL JAILS

CALGARY - When Chaz the drug-detecting dog begins patrolling Alberta's
jails, he'll be using a finely tuned nose developed by Calgary police
training.

The two-year-old Labrador retriever is part of an $80,000-a-year
government program to prevent the spread of drugs inside Alberta's
eight provincial jails for adult offenders.

"He's a very independent dog -- it's probably the thing I like most
about him," said Sgt. Shawn Sykes, a Calgary Police Service K-9
officer who trained Chaz for the provincial Solicitor General's Department.

"You get him started and he'll search an entire room by
himself."

Chaz and his handler, correctional officer Shaun McCoy, will be based
at the Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre, where officials unveiled
the new drug-detection measure Wednesday.

"This is a big step in the right direction," said Cec Cardinal,
chairman of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees Local 3, which
represents approximately 1,000 correctional officers.

"Any time you can make a dent in the gang activity, it's better for
the front-line staff in the institutions."

The drug dog program is designed to complement other procedures in
place to prevent contraband from getting into provincial jails. The
other measures include physical searches, cell searches and random
drug testing.

Jail staff conducted 77 searches using dogs from other police agencies
last year.

The bill was higher than what Chaz will cost the province, a
spokeswoman said.

"Contracting with police services is expected to cost more than
$117,000 in 2006-07," Jill McCormick said.

Officials say drugs aren't a rampant problem in the provincial jail
system, where the maximum sentence is two years.

Significant drug seizures in the system are "very rare," and McCormick
likened the typical seizure to a single marijuana joint or a small
amount of pills.

"Chaz is expected to act as more of a deterrent," she said.

Sykes picked Chaz and three dogs for the Calgary Police Service during
a trip to a breeder in Indiana last fall.

Labradors are suitable drug dogs because their retrieval instincts are
so much stronger than other breeds, Sykes said. Like many service
dogs, Chaz will live with his handler when he's not working. "They're
part of a family and they get plenty of rest," he said.