PENDER DEPUTIES GO TO THE DOGS

PENDER COUNTY - Pender County Sheriff Carson Smith has hired two new
deputies and a narcotic officer.

Since being hired, all three have been willing to put their nose to
the ground and work like dogs in the areas they have been assigned

Deputies Hope and Haley have been assigned to work with Deputy Scott
Lawson and Deputy Taylor. Hope will ride with Taylor and Hailey will
ride with Lawson.

Roscoe has been assigned to narcotics where he will be pared with
Detective Patrick Giddeon.

Smith said he could justify the cost of the new officers because it
takes little money out his budget.

"They really don't cost much to keep," said Smith. "They were free,
the training is free and their pens were donated. The only real cost
is food and vet bills."

Pender County's newest officers haven't gone to the dogs they are
dogs.

Roscoe, an Australian Sheppard mix, came to the department in October
and will begin certification this month. Once certified, Roscoe will
begin working narcotics as a drug-sniffing dog.

"Custom's wanted Roscoe but we got him first," said Smith.

Roscoe came from a pound and had been tested by U.S. Customs to see if
he could be trained to detect drugs.

Since October Giddeon has worked with Roscoe and while he is not
officially certified yet, Roscoe can detect and find marijuana.

When Roscoe finds marijuana he lets Giddeon know by scratching at the
area he detects the scent.

"We started with marijuana, next is meth-amphetamines, heroin and
coke," said Giddeon, who said Roscoe gets real happy when he finds
drugs.

"He knows he will get his reward," added Giddeon.

According to Smith, Roscoe works to be rewarded with a toy, a small
rubber ball he plays with enthusiastically.

"The only time he gets the ball is when he finds some drugs," said
Giddeon.

Law enforcement dogs usually work for one of two reasons, according to
Smith.

"They either do it for a reward like Roscoe and the ball, or for
praise," said Smith.

Roscoe can be used not only to find hidden drugs but as a tool to
search a home or a car.

According to Giddeon, a law enforcement officer can gain entry into a
vehicle or home if a certified dog detects the scent of drugs inside
from outside the vehicle or home.

Hope, a hound dog, was the first dog to come to the department in
July.

Smith said Hope, along with Hailey, will be used as tracking
dogs.

Hope has received her North American Police Dog Association
certification. Hailey will soon receive hers.

Taylor, her handler, said working with Hailey has been a wonderful
experience.

Since she joined the force, Taylor said he has surveyed those he has
tracked with Hailey, "and so far all have been dead on."

Hailey was recently used to track a presumed missing U.S. Marine in
Hampstead and, according to Smith, she tracked the Marine to the same
spot several times before the track went cold.

Hailey, unlike Roscoe, works off praise, she wants to please her
handler, according to Taylor.

"You have to be very attached," said Taylor in talking about a dog and
his handler's relationship.

"The dog has to trust us 100 percent and know we are going to keep it
safe and we have to know we can trust the dog," said Taylor.

To help garner that relationship the handlers and dogs are paired
together 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Smith said he is happy to have two tracking dogs and a drug dog, but
he has no intention of bringing on an aggression dog.

Aggression dog are used to chase and attack fleeing suspects.

"I don't want that," said Smith. "I want these dogs to be comfortable
around people and I want them to be able to take them into the
schools." While it is hard to put a number on the effectiveness these
dogs will have in the department, Smith said rest assure, they are
great law enforcement tools.