DRUG ENFORCEMENT HAS GONE TO THE DOG

Motorists ferrying illegal drugs through Camden now have more to worry
about than nosey deputies.

"Rex," a 15-month-old Belgian Malinois, joined the Camden Sheriff's
Department late last month, and already the drug-sniffing dog has
ferreted out illegal narcotics in four different vehicles.

"If drugs are there, that dog will find them," said Cpl. Josh
Brothers, Rex's handler.

Brothers, 28, volunteered for the assignment with Rex after studying
police dogs for more than two years. He says he began his studies
because he believed the Camden Sheriff's Department would eventually
add a canine unit.

"I like being proactive in drug interdiction, trying to interdict the
drugs before they make it into our community," Brothers said. "Drugs
are ruining society."

"And they are ruining our children," added Sheriff Tony Perry, who
lobbied to get the dog after winning a $14,000 grant to pay most of
the canine unit's initial costs. Those costs included Brothers'
two-week training in dog-handling, a dog kennel for Brothers' patrol
car and Rex's visits to the vet.

Camden's cost for the new canine unit will be $1,556. Any future costs
of the program are expected to be paid with tax offsets drug dealers
and users are forced to pay after being found guilty of drug crimes.

So far Rex seems to be having "fun"sniffing out narcotics, Brothers
said.

"He's crazy about dope," Brothers said. "When he finds dope, he thinks
he's finding his toy. Every time he goes to work, he's actually going
to play. That's what keeps him motivated, keeps him doing his job."

The dog, which will be used to search cars and school lockers, is only
expected to get better at his job, Brothers said.

"I give him training on average three to four days a week doing
searches," Brothers said. "Either myself or another officer will hide
narcotics either in a car or a house or the office."

Brothers takes Rex along on a leash, moving methodically through a
search area.

"All I'm doing is standing in front of him controlling his leash,"
Brothers said. "He does the searches completely on his own."

Of the four marijuana busts in which Rex participated, Brothers
believes only one could have been accomplished before the dog arrived.

"The rest of them probably would have been bypassed without the dog,"
he said.

In one instance, Rex found marijuana "stuck up underneath the front
passenger seat - not on the floorboard but up in the seat," Brothers
said. "That's one time an officer is not going to really be able to
(drugs)."

Being a police-dog handler is not easy. When Brothers' work shift is
over, he then has to spend about an hour a day taking care of and
training Rex, he said.

Rex, who lives with Brothers, was born in Holland and imported to the
United States by Southern Police Canine, Inc., in Spring Hope. While
in Spring Hope, the dog received several months of training before
being sold to the sheriff's department.