CITIES MAY SWAP DOG, TRAFFIC RADAR

Del City Wants Drug Sniffer; Choctaw Eyes Speeders

Dog: Last Drug Dog Retired

DEL CITY -- Man's best friend is being traded for a speeding motorist's
watch-dog device, officials in Choctaw and Del City confirmed last week.
Del City and Choctaw's police departments are negotiating the trade of a
6-year-old mobile radar speed detector for a 7-year-old drug dog, city
managers of both municipalities said.

Choctaw City Manager Robert Floyd said his town discontinued its K-9 unit
about a year ago, and the police department's drug dog, Nero, has been idle
ever since.

"Del City contacted us because they heard about our dog and they're
interested in starting a canine police program," Floyd said.

"They said they had a speed trailer, and wondered if we'd like to swap."
Floyd said Choctaw police have been wanting a speed detector trailer for
some time.

"We've had calls from people around the city complaining about speeders,"
Floyd said. "We've noticed that speeders have a tendency to slow down when
they see their speed posted on one of those speed- detector screens --so we
think getting one will make our streets safer." Choctaw purchased Nero, a
German shepherd police drug dog, in 1996. The animal was born in
Czechoslovakia and trained in Tulsa, he said.

The value of the police dog and the used speed detector are about the same,
Floyd noted.

Floyd said the Choctaw City Council is expected to vote on the
dog-for-detector trade at its June 4 meeting.

Del City's city council recently approved swapping the speed detector for a
trained drug dog, City Manager Mark Edwards said.

Edwards said Del City's last drug dog, Troop, retired four years ago, and
city officials officers think a K-9 unit would aid law enforcement officers
in the community.

"You can send a dog into places and situations you wouldn't dare send a
man," Edwards said. "Having a police dog is like having a couple more cops
on the street."

Del City Police Officer Brian Wofford says he thinks his department will be
getting a good deal and a good dog, once the trade is official.

Wofford has been getting acquainted with Nero for the past month.

"He's really becoming handler-attached," Wofford said Friday. "It's taken a
couple of weeks for him to grow into that."

Wofford said the biggest adjustment is the one his own police-trained
German shepherd, Major, has had to make in sharing his master with another
dog in the house.

"Major and Nero have done really well together," Wofford said. "But I was
surprised that the adjustment was actually hardest for my dog."

Once the swap is finalized, Wofford and Nero will become part of Del City's
K-9 unit, the officer said.

Wofford said Del City also hopes to acquire a second drug dog from the U.S.
Air Force, under the military's adopt-a-dog program.