POLICE REVEAL DRUG DOGS LACK PROPER CERTIFICATION

Officials Question How Documents Were Falsified

CHATTANOOGA - Two drug-sniffing dogs have been removed from street
duty and their handlers were reassigned to non-patrol jobs as
authorities investigate how the animals' K-9 certifications were falsified.

The internal affairs investigation of the department's false documents
on the two Belgian malinois dogs, Casper and Viper, stemmed from an
inquiry by the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Rebecca Stern, Hamilton County Criminal Court judge, said she was
unsure how the lack of certification by the United States Police
Canine Association might affect past or pending cases.

"I am shocked, if it's true, that a police officer would falsify
anything regarding a criminal case," Stern said. "If a dog's
training and certification are the basis for probable cause for a
search, I think there could be problems with the search."

District Attorney General Bill Cox said Tuesday that after conferring
with police officials, it did not appear the dogs' lack of
certification would affect cases made in local courts.

"Any other issues with the matter will be looked into completely,"
Cox said.

The newspaper last week asked the city's police K-9 coordinator, Sgt.
Dennis Pedigo, to produce certificates for all six department dogs
used to detect drugs, explosive devices and patrol streets.

Department policy requires the dogs and their handlers to be certified
by the USPCA before being put into service, officials said.

Police produced certificates for five of the six dogs, including
Casper and Viper. At least two of the certificates appeared to have
been doctored, Deputy Chief Charles Cooke said.

Police discovered Monday that the certifying association did not have
a record of Casper and Viper receiving narcotics detection
certification, he told the newspaper.

"Sgt. Pedigo was trusting of his people," Cooke said. "Phone calls
to the USPCA to double check the records showed the dogs were not
certified. Our opinion is those documents were falsified, and the
officers have been removed from the street."

Pedigo, the department's canine coordinator for about three years,
said Sam, a Labrador retriever used to sniff out bombs and explosive
materials, also lacks certification.

"We thought the dog (Sam) was certified," Pedigo said last week.
"Even the handler thought he was certified."

He said Sam would "certify as soon as possible."

"The other two dogs will have to wait until the investigation is
over," he said.

Sam was donated to the department by a Signal Mountain, Tenn.,
firefighter, Pedigo said.

Blade, Casper and Viper, were purchased last year for $7,000 each in
South Carolina, police said.

Officer Iran Meadows, the department's head trainer, told the
newspaper last week that the dogs received 12 weeks of extensive
training by himself and an assistant.

A check of police records Tuesday by the Times Free Press found that
both dogs assisted in arrests before an attempt for
certification.

Two years ago in Knoxville, a federal judge dropped drug charges
against a Virginia couple because of the unreliability of a police dog
that sniffed out 560 pounds of marijuana in their motor home.

Testimony showed the dog alerted officers to drugs 225 times between
1998 and 2000, but officers only found drugs 80 times.