POLICE DOG HAS NOSE FOR DRUGS

Mills Police Officer Derek Ransom Has Found The Perfect Partner.

She loves coming to work, never talks back and shares his passion for
getting drugs off the streets.

In return, all she asks for is a few minutes of play time with a tennis ball.

Meet Nyx, a nearly 2-year-old black Labrador who can sniff out even
small amounts of methamphetamine, marijuana, heroin and cocaine.
She's also the department's first police dog.

"She's the best partner I could ever ask for," Ransom says. "She
loves me, she doesn't talk back, she's game for everything."

Nyx, named after the Greek goddess of darkness and the night, is
trained to alert Ransom whenever she smells the odor of drugs. She
can smell illegal substances by merely walking around the outside of a vehicle.

"We are going to seriously impact the drug community with her," Ransom says.

During Ransom's shift, Nyx quietly curls up in the back of his Dodge
Durango police cruiser. But when her drug-sniffing abilities are
needed, she practically bursts with energy.

When Ransom stops a vehicle for a traffic violations, she sits up,
staring forward with her head resting on metal bars that separate the
front and back seats. He lets her out and commands, "Find it." Nyx's
tail wags as she darts around the suspect vehicle, intently sniffing
the various parts.

"She's nuts about going to work," he says. "She wants to be right
there, every day."

Mills, Ransom says, is a drug-rich community, and marijuana and
methamphetamine are the most common illegal substances. Nyx, who came
to the department last month, will lead to more drug arrests, he
believes. While marijuana has an odor that's easily recognizable, the
smell of methamphetamine is harder for an officer to pick out.

For Nyx, it's no problem. In a demonstration of her abilities, Ransom
hid a small amount of meth in a file cabinet inside the Mills police
garage. It didn't take long for the police dog to quickly find her quarry.

Ransom had wanted to start a police-dog program since he joined the
department in 2003. His main goal as an officer is fighting the drug
problem, he says.

"She's just the best tool for that interdiction," he explains.

Nyx has already had some success. During her first week of training,
she and Ransom discovered 12 grams of heroin.

When she's not working, Nyx lives with Ransom. He says she's as good
of a dog at home as she is on patrol.

"It's great so far," he says. "We lucked out with just a phenomenal dog."