JPD 'HIRES' TIGGER TO ELIMINATE DRUGS IN AREA

They have always said that dog is man's best friend and in
Jacksonville the police are relying on man's best friend to help clean
up crime and stop a problem that is quickly growing by epic
proportions. "We have experienced a huge methamphetamine use in our
area," explained Police Chief Tommy Thompson, who spearheaded the
effort to get a drug sniffing dog added to his force.

"Like it is throughout the South, methamphetamines are becoming our
number one problem. It is at the root of a lot of the problems we
investigate, from petty theft and breaking and entering, to assault
and robbery.

"This will at least give us a weapon in the war that might help us get
a jump on things."

Hoping to place a Band-Aid on the wound and stem the flow of drugs and
the problems associated with them, Thompson looked toward neighboring
communities to see what proactive measures their police departments
were taking.

Throughout his research, he ran across one constant in the whole deal.
Regardless of the limitations placed on them by manpower and funding,
each unit had recently been equipped with a canine to reduce the
threat of the criminal element.

"We are one of the last departments around the area to branch out into
this line of police work," added Thompson. "We felt it would be highly
beneficial to the citizens of Jacksonville, so we checked into the
matter to see what it might cost us."

Initial checks indicated the cost would run somewhere around $15,000.
Thompson admitted this was a little rich for the city.

"When we first started talking about getting a drug dog," explained
Thompson, "the price started around $15,000. We checked around and
found one at about $9,000, but even that seemed a little high."

Finally, after months of reviewing, Thompson contacted officials with
The Canine Detection Training Center/Auburn University at McClellan.
The group informed him that they could work it out to supply the
department with a dog for $6,000.

"We can take the dog into schools, area motels, roadblocks and parking
lots throughout the city," added Thompson, defining parameters on how
they went about choosing the particular kind of dog. "Wherever there
is reason to use a drug sniffing dog, we now have that option."

Thompson alerted Auburn that they wanted an animal that would not
bite, to rule out any chance of lawsuits against the city for wrongful
injury.

They were pleased with what they were provided, a yellow Labrador
Retriever with a motherly disposition and a nose like a computer that
can sniff out even the most minute of smells and determine if an
individual is or has been transporting drugs or has drugs on his
person. After locating the dog, Thompson had one more major hurdle -
finding an officer to take the dog on as a partner and all that such a
move entails.

Despite his limited experience thus far on the Jacksonville force, the
choice was an obvious one.

Born in Hamilton, Ohio, Scott Hodges' animals had always been a part
of his life. Throughout his journey, he was rarely found without an
animal in tow. He had a soft spot for creatures of the four-legged
variety, preferring dogs over people in most instances.

After graduating high school in 1989, Hodges mapped out a course for a
career in the military. He envisioned himself working with the
military police as a dog handler. It was something he had always been
interested in and the one career dream that had outlasted all the rest.

Unfortunately, Uncle Sam had other ideas for Hodges, sending him
instead in a deployable unit, ready at a moment's notice to join the
mission wherever his team was needed. The kind of uncertainty of place
and purpose that such an assignment created, was not conducive to
providing a good life for a dog, let alone a dog handler. So,
throughout his military career, Hodges was forced to place this dream
on the back burner.

"When you are traveling the world on different missions," explained
Hodges, "there is not much time to spend taking care of a dog or
working with a dog to keep its training up to date. I traveled to
Panama twice, to Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Grenada and other areas. So, any
thoughts I had entertained about being a dog handler were pretty well
wiped away."

During his military stint, fate intervened in Hodges' life in a way he
could not have possibly expected, but in such a way that it set a
series of events in motion to bring him full circle to the place he
always believed he would be.

While stationed at Fort McClellan, Hodges met and married Charity
Delane of Wellborn.

The Hodges opted to start their life together close to her family, so
they bought a home in Calhoun County. Still, even in this new
environment, the opportunity to pull his dog handling career
aspirations back to the front never manifested itself.

Little did Hodges know, however, that he took one giant step closer to
that destination when he joined the Jacksonville Police Department six
years ago.

"It was basically what I had done with the military police in the
Army," explained Hodges. "It gave me a chance to help others and make
a difference in their lives. Any thoughts of being a dog handler were
pushed aside, especially after I learned the force did not employ any
canine units."

Hodges let his desire for this form of employment be known through
passing comments and discussions. He never truly believed it would
come to pass, but was not willing to cast it aside completely. This
persistence and refusal to close the door to his heart's desire was
about to pay off in a major way.

"When Chief (Thompson) asked me if I wanted to work with a drug dog,"
explained Hodges, "I jumped at the chance. This was, after all, the
one thing I had always wanted to do. It was what I felt most
comfortable doing."

On July 21, Hodges traveled to Auburn's McClellan outpost to attend
orientation and training. He was there for a month, working at first
with all the animals and then more and more time with a special dog -
Tigger.

Tigger, the dog placed with Hodges and approved as the community drug
cleaner, was so named because when he was little he bounced around on
his hind legs and tail like his namesake on Winnie The Pooh. Certified
to sniff methamphetamines, cocaine products, heroin products and
marijuana products, Tigger lives fulltime with Hodges and his family.
Treated almost like royalty, Tigger has a specially equipped car to
ride in and is treated to only the best of food and supplies.

"We want to make sure that he is always ready to do his job at a
moment's notice," explained Hodges. "We shelled out a great deal of
money for Tigger, so we want to make sure we do everything to get a
return on our investment."

Still in the "feeling each other out process", Tigger and Hodges can
be found cruising the streets of Jacksonville on the 7 p.m. to 3 a.m.
shift. Always ready to perform their duties and take drugs off the
streets of the city, this crime fighting duo merges the best of both
worlds to form the ultimate police unit and the ultimate bond of loyalty.

"The culmination of the dream has been every bit as good as I
expected," explained Hodges. It has really been interesting and I am
looking forward to help Tigger, help me, stamp out drugs around town."