HAMPSHIRE COPS WANT K-9 TO COMBAT DRUGS

Drug Problem Cited, but Village Board Is Wary

HAMPSHIRE -- This village has a growing drug problem, and one key to
fighting that would be to add a four-legged patrolman to the police
force, Police Officer James Neblock told the village board's public
safety committee last week.

Neblock and Police Chief Thomas Atchison proposed buying a dog and
sending it and one officer through police K-9 training. Once trained,
the canine could smell out hidden illegal drugs and defend its
handler, other officers and the public from threatening people.

"It's easier for a 16-year-old kid to buy marijuana in this community
than to buy cigarettes," Neblock said.

"I'm glad to hear our merchants have been enforcing the laws against
tobacco sales to minors," Village President Jeff Magnussen joked
later, adding that the extent of drug crime may not be as grim as
Neblock pictured in his effort to justify the dog.

Police department records show that so far this year, the force has
handled seven cases of possession of cannabis, as the law calls
marijuana, and 10 cases of possession of drug paraphernalia, such as
smoking pipes.

Neblock said he believes even cocaine and heroin have begun showing up
in Hampshire. "With the influx of new people, there are new problems.
We stopped three gangbangers who were coming to visit another
gangbanger who now lives in our community, and they had marijuana in
their vehicle."

Neblock said a trained dog could sniff for drugs when cars have been
stopped for a traffic offense or for suspicious activity. The dog also
could sniff for drugs hidden in lockers and backpacks at the schools,
track criminals who escaped on foot, find intruders hiding in a
building and protect officers against someone attacking them.

He said a dog also would help with community relations by interacting
with the public, especially during programs at the schools. A dog's
"friendly demeanor promotes the relationship between community and
police," he said. "There's a stigma that police dogs are aggressive
and mean, but that's absolutely false."

A canine program even would help to recruit new officers, he said.
"When you're interviewing recruits and ask what they want to do with
their career, 80 to 90 percent will say they want to become either a
detective or a canine officer," Neblock said.

The committee members made few comments. But experience has made some
wary of the program's estimated $16,000-plus start-up cost, most of
which would consist of training fees. Village Trustee Ed Szydlowski
noted that Hampshire paid another policeman to train for canine duty
several years ago. But a few months later, the officer quit to join
another police department, taking the dog with him. Police dogs are
trained to work with one specific officer.

Neblock offered his services as the canine officer and said he would
negotiate a contract promising that if he left the department
voluntarily, he would reimburse the village's costs.

In any case, Magnussen said, the village could not go forward with a
canine program until it replaces three police officers who recently
resigned and until the next fiscal year begins on May 1, 2009. Two new
officers were hired last month but are undergoing six months of
training. A third new officer must be picked from a group of potential
recruits who are now undergoing testing.

"I know funding is a huge concern," Neblock said, but he said a number
of governmental programs and private charities might provide financial
help.

Atchison said an increase in discovery of drugs could bring in some
extra revenue, since under the "asset forfeiture" law a village can
seize cars and cash used in crimes. A few years ago, he said, federal
agents seized a truck that had stopped at a Hampshire truck stop with
$12 million in drug-trafficking money hidden inside one of its
headlights.