DRUG-SNIFFING DOG PROWLING BART CARS

13 Arrests On Trains On First Two Nights

It might be a good idea to leave the doobies at home if you plan to ride
BART anytime soon.

Officer Millie is roaming BART trains sniffing for riders who might have
thought the train was an easy way to transport narcotics.

While Millie, a black labrador retriever, is supposed to find drug dealers
and big stashes, she also knows when you've got a baggie or even a joint.

"Here at BART we have a zero tolerance policy," said BART police Cmdr. Wade
Gomes. "We want the bad guys to know we're out there, and we'll get you no
matter how much you're carrying."

The drug sniffing dog started work Wednesday night as part of a new drug
enforcement program by BART and U.S. Customs Service. The first day's work
resulted in four arrests. Three were minor citations, police said; one was
a man carrying 13 baggies of pot.

Officer Millie was out last night, too, and her efforts resulted in nine
more citations being issued for possession of marijuana.

Gomes said BART police had been told by many local police departments that
the trains were used to transport drugs. So, he said, the BART police
wanted to look for a way to stem that flow, which might become even more
important after BART completes its new station at the San Francisco
International Airport.

BART police got together with U.S. Customs, he said, because the federal
agency has a "passive narcotic canine program." Which is a bureaucratic way
to say they use nice, friendly dogs to do the searches.

Instead of the tough, sometimes ferocious German shepherds that are usually
used by police, Customs uses smaller dogs, black Labrador retrievers and
golden retrievers, for this kind of work.

It works like this, Gomes said: two Customs agents and three BART officers
board a train. Three of the group station themselves at either end of the
car and two go with the dog. The canine walks along and sniffs around the
passengers. When the dog smells drugs, it simply sits next to the suspect
and looks at him or her.

That's what police call "an alert." It gives the officer reason to search
the person. Most of the time, Gomes said, the officers first ask the person
to simply hand over their drugs, and so far they have.

Dale Gieringer, coordinator of the California chapter of NORML, the
National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws which supports
legalizing marijuana called a BART drug sweep a waste of time and money.

"This is penny ante stuff. It sounds like a penny ante crime creation
program by cops who don't have anything better to do," Gieringer said. "I
thought this country had a war on terrorism. Are smugglers taking BART from
Thailand to the Embarcadero?"

Gieringer said people who use marijuana for medical purposes might also
unfairly be caught and cited.

"They should let people go if they just have a joint or two," Gieringer
said. "That's causing no threat at all to the public."

Sean Sloane, a 37-year-old San Francisco computer consultant, said the move
further promoted an extreme police state. He also questioned spending
resources for a problem he does not consider to be that serious.

"It's intrusive, and they're wasting their time," said Sloane. "It will
just be petty."

But many others said the dogs made sense. Michele Battise, a Nordstrom
saleswoman from Oakland, said there were plenty of shady characters riding
BART who she suspected could be carrying drugs.

"I'm for it as long as they don't target people," said Battise. "If this
discourages people from transporting drugs, I'd encourage it."