KSP TO USE POLICE DOGS TO COMBAT DRUG USE

FRANKFORT - With illegal drug use on the rise across the state, the Kentucky
State Police has decided to call in the dogs - six of them to be exact. Six
pure-bred German Shepherds trained in narcotics detection and tracking
completed a three-month training period last week at the Kentucky State
Police Central Lab in Frankfort. The dogs will now be placed to various
posts across the state, with four of them going to posts in Eastern
Kentucky.

"Working as a team with their handlers, these dogs further enhance our
capabilities in the fight against illegal drugs in Kentucky," KSP
Commissioner Patrick N. Simpson said. "They increase our efficiency and
effectiveness and provide an economic supplement to our more high-tech law
enforcements tools. They'll prove their worth in the field immediately."

The teams, consisting of a handler and a dog, were sent to the following
posts: Trooper Bo Cure and Gero in Pikeville, trooper Shawn Podunavac and
Roky in Ashland, trooper Richie Miller and Balko in Harlan, trooper Kenny
Yarber and Waldo in Morehead, trooper Todd Maggard and Cinto in Frankfort
and trooper Todd Combs and Rex in Bowling Green. The new dogs will join five
others already working as part of the Kentucky State Police Special
Operations Section under the command of Sgt. Dale Richardson.

"The unit is primarily a support function and provides assistance to
troopers in the field as well as other law enforcement agencies," Richardson
said. "Its duties include assisting with building and vehicle searches for
drugs on search warrants and traffic stops, helping to locate missing or
lost people or escapees, searching for buried bodies and evidence and
detection of explosive devices in response to bomb threats and preventive
bomb sweeps for large social gatherings."

Trooper Tony Perkins, a certified trainer/instruction who has been with the
KSP's program since 1987, said the dogs can be helpful in many ways. "Dogs
are very effective when it comes to manpower hours," Perkins said. "For
example, they can search school lockers in a matter of minutes. It could
take a person hours to complete the same search and it wouldn't be as
effective."

Miller of the KSP Harlan post is eager to put his dog, Balko, to work.
"OxyContin is a priority in our area," he said. "We're going to be able to
take a lot more drugs off the street." The new dogs were obtained from Cross
Creek K9 Training Academy in Edgefield, S.C., at a cost of $3,875 each. "We
hope to purchase additional dogs in the future for use in explosive and
cadaver detection," Richardson said. "They are excellent manpower
multipliers who can really make a difference in law enforcement."