DOGS HELP DETER SCHOOL DRUG USE

With the glee of a puppy at playtime, Jimmy the golden retriever
successfully sniffed out a gram of cocaine Tuesday during a practice drill
at Sparks High School.

He passed a dozen or more lockers before scratching at one and sitting in
front of it to alert his handler that drugs were inside.

Sure enough, school police had stashed the cocaine inside a glass jar in the
locker. Jimmy's handler, Washoe County school police K-9 Officer Rick
Rapisora, praised him and threw a rubber toy down the hall for him to fetch.

For Jimmy, only 18 months old, finding drugs actually is playtime.

"Every time he has a hit, he gets a reward, and his reward is his toy,"
Rapisora said.

The pair is training to become the district's second K-9 drug-detection
team. If they pass a test Nov. 14, they'll be certified to detect marijuana,
cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and ecstasy and will continue training for
certification in firearm detection.

The team will share duties with Yoshi, a 3-year-old German shepherd, and his
handler, Officer Mario Palacios, who have led middle- and high-school
efforts to deter drug use.

"It's similar to DUI checkpoints," Chief Tamara Evans said. "The goal there
is to educate people and prevent substance abuse, and that's our goal, too.
We had so many requests last year, so that's why we're thrilled to get a
second one. We're hoping we can make them available to all schools this
year."

Officials said principals' demand for random K-9 unit visits, not an
increase in drug cases, prompted seeking grant money for a second dog.
Drug-related disciplinary action against high school students dropped 6
percent from 1999-2000 to 2000-2001, according to Washoe County
accountability reports.

The dogs have enough endurance to work in 45-minute blocks, limiting the
ground they can cover in one day. Searching a high school's lockers, parking
lots and classrooms might require three days, Palacios said.

"Now, we'll be able to do two schools in one day," he said.

Last year, he and Yoshi went on about 70 drug-sniffing missions at high
schools and middle schools districtwide.

Some principals wanted to resolve specific cases of campus drug use or
sales. Others simply wanted the K-9 team's presence -- and the possibility
of unannounced visits -- to deter potential drug activity.

"Drugs are an invisible problem, and I think the dogs are reassurance that
we have not allowed drugs in our school," Sparks High Principal Kendyl
Depoali said. "It gives us proof."

Last year, Yoshi's efforts netted in 20 arrests, 3.7 pounds of marijuana, 1
gram of methamphetamine and 22 tablets of ecstasy, according to department
records.

Police also attribute his presence on campus to a reduction in the number of
drug-possession cases, police Sgt. Mike Mieras said.

Drug-related suspensions at Hug High School dropped from 22 in 1999-2000 to
12 in 2000-2001, when Yoshi started.

"Any time we bring the dogs in, our narcotic arrests in that school will
drop dramatically," Mieras said.

The district police department used a $7,500 donation from the Pennington
Foundation to buy Jimmy, who was pre-trained at the Makor K-9 Training
Center in Napa, Calif. Donations from Home Depot, Kal Kan Foods, and
Fairgrounds Animal Hospital pay his kennel, food and veterinary care.