LITTLEVILLE GETS NEW CANINE UNITS

LITTLEVILLE - When Police Chief John Gillette applied for a grant for a dog
to be used for narcotics, he had no idea if the application would be approved.

So, when he got a call from the National Association of Chief of Police
about the possibility of getting a free drug dog, he couldn't turn it down.

"The dog had been donated to NACOP by a man in New York and, of course, we
were more than happy to get her,'' Gillette said. "The dog had already been
trained, just not certified.''

A couple of weeks after the department got the dog, Gillette received
another call from NACOP officials.

"They said the $5,000 grant to purchase a drug dog had been approved,''
Gillette said.

Now, the Littleville Police Department has two new canine officers that
will be used in the department's fight against illegal drug use.

"I guess you could say we really lucked into this,'' said Mayor Kenneth
Copeland. "There are a lot of departments that don't have any drug dogs,
and we're going to have two.

"When we started talking about a drug dog and applied for the grant, we
didn't know if we would be approved or not. We never expected to have two
dogs.''

Gillette said the department's new dog would be coming from Cedar Valley
Kennels in Franklin, Tenn.

"We've already purchased the dog, and it's training is now under way,'' the
chief said.

"The dog will be trained for drugs as well as tracking. The other dog we
have is only trained for drugs.''

Gillette said he hopes to have both dogs ready for duty within the next few
weeks.

"We expect the new dog to be ready by mid-November, and we're working to
get the other dog certified,'' the chief said. "I think they'll both be
ready for the streets about the same time.''

He said officers James Chaney and Eddie Wilson will be handling the two
canines.

NACOP's K-9 program is designed to assist underfunded police departments
with its canine programs.

Littleville has only five officers, including the chief of police.

Gillette said he feels sure that illegal drugs are transported back and
forth on U.S. 43 through his city.

"There have been a lot of drug cases made in Lauderdale, Colbert and
Franklin counties,'' Gillette said. "It stands to reason that we've become
a transportation corridor for drug traffic.

"Being a small department, we haven't been able to work drugs a lot. We
don't know what we're missing. Now, with the dogs, we should be able to do
a lot more work on illegal drug activity.

"We want the citizens of Littleville to know that we have these dogs, and
we are going to be using them. We're serious about trying to do something
about illegal drug activity.''

Copeland said the department's new canine units are something positive for
the city.

"We see this as being very beneficial to our city and our citizens,'' the
mayor said.