K9 COPS

They Really Do Take A Bite Out Of Crime

Craven County has four top dogs who would rather work than eat, sleep or go
courting other canines.

They are so skilled at tracking, trailing, article searching and drug
sniffing that the Craven County Sheriff's deputies who handle them
literally trust their lives to the dogs.

Handlers know the nose knows.

All four of the handlers say they would take a bullet for their prized pooch.

The dogs are considered sworn officers, so it would be very unwise to harm
the dogs.

Erik Smith, "Baby Bop" (the youngest handler), trains and handles Cindy;
Nathan Beard directs the only male, Duke; Nelson "Chico" Lugo cares and
feeds Anna; while Steve Phifer, a big and burly deputy, is gentle with Anka.

Lugo is affectionately known as "Grandpa" by the younger deputies. He is
the unofficial leader of the pack of dogs and deputies. He has an extensive
background as a Marine military policeman. He served in Bosnia for a year
with the United Nations Police Force. He trained K-9 dogs for Bosnian police.

Lugo has been handling K-9 dogs on and off for the past 12 years. He was a
Havelock Police K-9 officer for nine years before joining the Craven County
Sheriff's Department.

The four dogs who work for Craven County are Belgium Malinois; three of
them were born in Holland. Three of them take commands in Dutch, one hears
commands in English.

These are not pound pups. The dogs cost $5,000 each.

"They have all paid for themselves many times over, with the vehicles,
drugs and money we have confiscated, thanks to the dogs," Lugo said.

For the four deputies who handle and care for these dogs, a day off is not
a day off.

"We work with them every day, even on our day off. When we work, they work,
when we sleep they sleep, but these dogs would rather work," Lugo said.

Beard told of the time that his dog was near a dog in season. "Duke stayed
right on the track, he didn't even go toward her," he said.

Beside the work on days off, the dogs and handlers undergo extensive
training once a week. This training day is another day that deputies could
be off duty, but the 12-hour training session keeps the dogs on top of
their game. "It's just part of the work, it is no sacrifice to train the
dogs on a day off," said Phifer.

Recently, the deputies loaded the four dogs in their mobile kennel and made
a road trip to Greenville for a full day of training. Some training
sessions are held at Cherry Point with the K-9s there.

The kennels accommodate the dogs. They can walk around and pace on the
carpeted floor, or take a nap while they ride.

"She's pacing now because she wants to get out and go to work," Lugo said
as he looked back at Anna, who seemed stir crazy.

When the deputies and dogs arrive, professional trainer Mike Bullock was
ready to put the dogs through the course.

Bullock, who trains and sells K-9 dogs throughout the country, does not
bill Craven County for his service. He offers the training because he loves
the dogs, and word-of-mouth among handlers is priceless.

Bullock gets right to the project at hand. He leads the deputies to a
repair yard, where vehicles which have seen better days will be used for
the dogs in a game of hide-and-seek.

Heroin, marijuana and crack cocaine are hidden among the klunkers to test
the drug sniffing ability of the dogs. The drugs are wrapped carefully and
can't hurt the dogs.

"The dogs have more sense than people when it comes to swallowing drugs. It
will flat out make people sick when they swallow dope to destroy the
evidence. They just end up getting their stomach pumped," said one deputy.

As the dope is stashed among the cars, pickup trucks and vans, the dogs
must sniff past the musky smell of old cars, mildew upholstery and rotting
rubber tires.

The odors are no challenge to these dogs. Perfume, moth balls, air
freshener "and anything you can think of, has been used to mask the smell
of drugs," Lugo said, "but nothing can take these dogs off the scent."

And the training begins.

"You have to watch how your dog alerts. All dogs alert differently,"
Bullock said.

Anna will bite and scratch when she alerts. She doesn't bite people, but
she takes a gnaw at the metal, gas tank cover, door handle or steering
wheel. "You pretty well know when she finds," Lugo said.

Bullock watches as each dog sniffs out planted narcotics.

"OK, you need to circle back once again. Go back around the vehicle. No,
don't lead her, don't coax her, let her make the find," Bullock tells Smith.

"When your dog is searching, don't talk, let her find," Bullock adds.

Training is very important. It leads to national certification. It also
helps the prosecution team on a case.

"Defense attorneys will always question the ability of the dog," Lugo said.
"They will often challenge it. We keep exact records of everything the dog
has done, from training to finds."

In past experiences, a trial lawyer challenged Lugo's former canine, Gunner.

"I brought the dog in and he alerted in the courtroom. There were several
boxes in the courtroom. Gunner went to the box where the drugs were hidden.
The lawyer withdrew the challenge," Lugo said.

The Craven County Sheriff's Department won another court case.

The dogs help other agencies, including Jacksonville and New Bern, and
Jones, Carteret and Pamlico counties. Recently Anna and Lugo helped flush
out an alleged killer hiding all night in woods in Pamlico County. Beard
along with Duke sniffed out thousands of dollars in alleged drug money
hidden in a Craven County storage rental unit.

"The dogs are also used to help locate missing children or elderly people
who might wander off," Lugo said.

"There are some public misconceptions about these dogs. These dogs are not
used to attack or harm. In some cases the dogs could be used to temper
suspects who might want to run or not co-operate. The dogs would be used to
subdue the suspects and keep them from doing anything dangerous," Lugo said.

"The dog will not bother you unless you do something wrong to the officer
handling the dog," Phifer said.

While traveling, the dogs are probably better behaved than children on road
trips. Lugo said Anna and the others have an occasional sick days just as
humans. "I can tell when she is sick. She is just not up to par. We don't
let them work when they are sick. They can pick up a virus just like
humans," Lugo said.

Lugo said that Anna became ill, "but she waited until she got home, out of
her carrier before she took care of her own business," he said.

The deputies are bonded with their dogs. "We can sense when they feel
badly," Phifer said.

"We can read each other. It's is like two lawmen who are partnered with
each other. We can sense the next move, know what the other person is
thinking or might be ready to do. It is a total bond that we have with our
dog," said Beard.

And like children, the dogs will push the envelope to see how far that they
might go to get the goat of their human handler.

"Oh, they will test you. They are like children. They want to see how far
that they can go before they are told no," Lugo said.

At the end of the day all the deputies say the dogs take pride in their
work. "We also take pride in what we do. We do it well, the dogs do it
well," Lugo said.

The K-9 handlers work a shift just as other deputies. They serve civil
papers, patrol a zone and answer calls ranging from domestic disturbances
to larcenies.

Lugo said the handler should be level-headed and mature and have a "can do"
attitude about working.

The dogs and handlers are called out between 200 and 300 times per year.
The trained dogs, according to national experts, can do the work of three
men when it comes to trailing, tracking, building and article searching.

At the end of a 12-hour day of training, the dogs are put into their
carrier and head for home.

Anna will get her supper when she and Lugo get home.

She will also go on duty with Lugo.

The other three will go through their nighttime routine.

"They'll probably have sweet dreams about what they did today," Lugo said.