CANINE MAKES IMPACT AT UMASS

AMHERST - When University of Massachusetts Police Officer Gerald R. Perkins
brought his dog Max up to a car with a nervous-looking student inside,
Perkins knew something was up.

"I could kind of tell near the doors he was going to get something,"
Perkins said. Moments later, Max, a four-year-old mixed breed dog who lives
to play, did his characteristic signal that there were drugs inside at the
rear of the vehicle. Soon after, the young man admitted that his girlfriend
had stuffed a bag of marijuana down her pants at his request when they were
pulled over. "The fact that he could smell that at the rear of the vehicle,
that impresses me. Not finding bales of marijuana that anyone can smell,"
Perkins said. Max, who unlike many police dogs is friendly and likes to be
patted, is the UMass Police Department's first canine helper. Perkins has
been working with him since last summer.

Trained at the New England Canine Academy in East Hartford, Conn., Max can
sniff for drugs and can also help look for suspects and lost people and
search for other evidence.

Selected for police work because of his strong desire to play, Max appeared
restless as he wandered around Perkins' cruiser behind the UMass police
station. "He's looking around for a toy. That's all he cares about, more
than even food, is to play," Perkins said.

Perkins did a quick demonstration. With Max in the back of his cruiser,
Perkins placed a small bag of marijuana in the door of a wooden desk behind
the police station.

"Max, seek," Perkins told the dog, whose eyes were alert and tail wagging.
Max started searching the area methodically in a clock-wise direction as he
has been taught. Within 30 seconds, he barked and pawed at the drawer where
the drug was hidden.

"Every time," Perkins said. Besides traveling with Perkins during his 7
p.m. to 3 a.m. shift, Max (and Perkins) accompany officers when they
execute a search warrant looking for drugs. During a recent raid of a John
Quincy Adams dormitory room, Max impressed officers when he repeatedly
signaled on a dictionary that turned out to have a hidden safe for drugs
inside.

Max has also led officers to suspects in car break-ins and has repeatedly
alerted officers to the presence of drugs in cars that have been pulled
over. Besides being a working dog, Max is also a pet who accompanies
Perkins almost all the time.

"He's never more than an arm's length away, 24/7. We have an awesome
relationship, to the point where my wife is jealous," Perkins said.