Vallejo raises $7,500 for a drug sniffing police pooch

By DRAEGER MARTINEZ
TIME5 STAFF WRITER

VALLEJO He maybe a Labrador retriever or a beagle or basset hound. He
might still need to outgrow a puppy's awkwardness, or he might be older;
more focused and alert. "He" may well be a female.

Whatever its particulars, the drug dog coming to Vallejo will be
trained to sniff out and stop narcotics dealers.

"We're happy to receive this enhancement to our services," said
Police Chief Bob Nichelini, "The last couple of years, we've been focusing on
streetcorner drug dealing, and the dog will help us find hidden drugs
our humans officers can't detect."

Nichelini was to collect roughly $7,500 raised by neighborhood
groups at a Vallejo City Council meeting Tuesday The Neighborhood Narcotics
Committee, a branch of the Mayor's Committee on Law and Order; and
Vallejo Crime Stoppers had been fund raising since March.

The $7,500 will pay for the dog a sixweek training course,
handler instruction and the dog's care during the 199798 fiscal year; said
neighborhood committee leader Mike Reddeg

Big dogs like German shepherds and Rottweilers are not commonly
used as drug dogs, police Lt. Tony Pearsall said.

"They're looking for sniffing power more than brute strength," he
said Police also have to select the canine's handler carefully The dog will
move into the handler's home and will stay by his side 24 hours a day for
the rest of the dog's life," Reddeg said.

Crime Stoppers President Gene Ball said that donor Jack
MacDonald put the fundraising goal over the top with a $4,000 check.

"He came up to us a week or two ago, and asked how much we were
short by," Ball said. "His mother had recently passed away; and she loved
Vallejo, so he wanted to help with something she'd have been proud of."

Reddeg said he appreciated the community's response and involvement.

"Something can be done, even if there's not a budget item for it. The
community can come through," he said.