DOG BUYS HIS OWN CAR

Vehicle Gained From Forfeiture in Drug Bust by Canine

Whoever said that crime doesn't pay hasn't talked to the officers from
the Forest City Police Department.

OK, it doesn't pay a lot, but the money taken in from drug bust
forfeitures has helped the department buy necessary equipment and will
definitely add a new car to the fleet.

The timing couldn't have been better. Just when the police department
needed to replace the 1999 Ford Expedition, used by officer Andrew
Klein and his drug dog Ceaser, the department took possession of a
2006 Dodge Charger the dog caught in one of his drug busts.

"Ceaser caught his own car and gets a new ride out of it," said Police
Chief Dan Davis with a chuckle.

While the car, obviously, can't be used by the police department, it
can be traded in, along with the Expedition, for a new Ford Crown
Victoria. There should even be enough money left over to have the car
outfitted for Ceaser.

Klein's vehicle is the oldest in the fleet and not even included in
the regular rotation of vehicles, which Davis said are replaced every
six years.

When Ceaser was given to the Forest City Police Department in 2005 the
Expedition was purchased used, from monies given to them from the
Lillian Watson estate.

Although the Expedition has served the department well Klein said, "
it wasn't meant for law enforcement use. It was a regular car
converted over."

Police work is very hard on cars Klein explained. Ford Crown
Victorias, standard police issue, are equipped with heavier
transmissions, suspension and brake packages.

Several suggestions were made at the last city council meeting when
Davis told the council members the Expedition would need to be
replaced. One suggestion was to give Klein one of the fleet's older
vehicles but Davis said, "Preferably, I would like to order it new."
Canine vehicles need specialized windows and doors along with special
ventilation and air control devices.

"Part of the cost is not just the equipment, but the installation,"
Davis said and he would like to see it done only once.

The new car would be used by Klein for six or seven years, about the
length of time Ceaser would serve the department. Davis said drug dogs
are usually retired after nine or 10 years and they have already had
theirs for over two years.

The Drug Dog

Ceaser, a 4-year-old German Shepherd, was given to the Forest City
Police Department in March 2005 by the Regional Training Center. A
Federal grant allowed the Center to give 10 trained drug dogs to
agencies that had requested one. Five more dogs were given at a later
date and one went to the Hancock County Sheriffs Department.

"If we had to buy Ceaser it would have cost the department $12,500,"
Klein said. Then a vehicle needs to be equipped to hold the dog and a
handler needs to be trained. "You could easily have $20,000 tied up in
it."

This is where the drug forfeiture money comes into play. "We can take
back things bought with drug money, such as houses and vehicles,"
Klein said. "But you have to be able to prove it was acquired from a
drug transaction."

Items forfeited are later sold at police sales and auctions and the
profit is divided between the agencies responsible for the drug bust.

"You can't take someone's property for the sole purpose of making
money," Klein stressed.

But the money the department does receive from ill-gotten gains is put
to good use. Klein explained, "We can't use it (the forfeiture money)
for budgetary items, only for equipment we wouldn't normally be able
to get - anything above and beyond."

"Today's drug dealers are craftier, smarter," Klein said. "It is tough
to stay ahead of them. He said the Forest City Police Department has
used forfeiture money to purchase high tech equipment such as scopes,
cameras, density meters and items needed specifically for Ceaser.

Davis said forfeiture money can be used for any law enforcement
purpose and a portion of the money they have received over the last
few years went into the building of the new police garage.

The Dodge Charger the department recently took title to was
confiscated from a person delivering meth in Forest City. Ceaser found
the meth hidden in the vehicle. "It was packaged and ready for sale,"
Klein said.

Ceaser was called out quite often in 2006 Klein said but, "this year
it's a little slower getting called out," he said and he attributes
that to the number of dogs currently used in the local area.

Ceaser's specialty is finding drugs being trafficked in vehicles along
the highway and interstate corridors and he gets called on quite often
by the Iowa State Patrol.

Klein said law enforcement officers try to stop vehicles along these
corridors before they reach Albert Lea or Mason City, bigger cities
that eventually filter the drugs down to smaller communities like
Forest City.

Law officers have often been accused of profiling people as a reason
for stopping a vehicle. Klein said the great thing about using Ceaser
is, "a dog doesn't profile people. He's an independent source that
says the drugs are there. That's what makes it so good."

But not every drug bust is Ceasar's doing. Klein was quick to give
praise where praise is due - to the other officers that make up the
Forest City Police Force. Quite a few drug raids have been made
without Klein's and Ceaser's help.

And as far as finding drugs in vehicles, "if officers were not out
there making the good stops, there wouldn't be anything for Ceaser and
me to find," Klein said. "It gives us a lot of work to do, but our job
is easy once the stop is made."

Dual Purpose Dog

Ceaser is high strung and likes to work Klein said, but he's very
gentle. He often takes the dog into the schools and he loves being
petted by the kids.

"The worst thing we have to worry about is his stepping on people,"
Klein said.

But when he is on duty watch out. Ceaser has also been trained to
track down people. He will either bark at person when he finds them or
he'll bite and hold and it all depends on the signal he receives from
Klein.

"He can read my body language, whether it is a matter of finding a
lost child or someone fleeing from a crime scene," Klein said. The
first case they ever worked on together was Evelyn Miller case in
Floyd in 2005.