DRUG DOG GETS BOOTED FROM BART

Transit Officials Scrap Plans To Use The Canine On Trains After Criticism
Of A Three-Day Narcotics Sweep In December

BART has scrapped plans to use a drug-sniffing dog on its trains after a
three-day narcotics sweep drew criticism from some Bay Area residents.

Officials initially touted the December sweep, which resulted in 13
citations and one arrest, as the first of ongoing efforts to gauge the
extent of drug trafficking on BART trains. They said it would help
determine whether more sweeps were needed and even whether BART should
obtain its own narcotics-detecting dog.

Now, Thomas E. Margro, BART's general manager, has said there are no plans
to use the dog again. The sweep was only a one-time activity, really a
demonstration to build relations between BART and U.S. Customs, he said.

The effort drew mixed reviews.

"Some feel real strongly it is worthwhile, while others see it as going too
far," said BART Director Joel Keller. "It's a balancing act. To the best of
my understanding it wasn't an ongoing thing."

The sweep was a joint operation between BART police and the U.S. Customs
Service. The two agencies have been working together, preparing for a
closer relationship once a BART extension to the international terminal of
the San Francisco airport is completed later this year, said BART spokesman
Mike Healy.

Mattie, a small black Labrador retriever, was brought on board Bay Area
trains in mid-December. Unlike aggressive narcotics dogs who tear open
suitcases, Mattie was trained to walk through the trains wagging her tail
and sniffing for drugs. When she scented them, she would sit down in front
of the person, said BART police Cmdr. Wade Gomes.

During a three-day period, officers cited 13 people on possession of
narcotics. A Concord man was handcuffed and held on suspicion of possession
of marijuana for sale. Police say the 37-year-old had 13 plastic baggies
filled with marijuana stuffed in his pockets.

The sweep angered many.

One Moraga resident called the sweep a gross infringement of constitutional
rights against unreasonable search and seizure.

While Joseph Tieger, a former civil rights attorney, was "delighted" the
program was discontinued, he said the people cited and arrested deserved an
apology.

He questioned whether the exercise was a "trial balloon" by the federal
government to see what people would put up with.

"People should look at what this would open the door to if it were allowed
to continue," Tieger said. "Which is why we fought the Revolutionary War.
As Americans we have the right to walk down the street without having
government, especially using dogs or high- technology sensors, be able to
sniff our underpants."

Others thought the search was a good idea.

Although it was a first for BART, many of the nation's largest transit
police departments have narcotics detection dogs patrolling trains,
including those in Georgia, New York and Pennsylvania.

Detective Gary Padgett of the Metro Transit Police in Washington, D.C.,
said his agency has a dozen dogs, including ones that sniff for drugs and
bombs.

Protests against the dog in the Bay Area baffled him.

"It's not unreasonable search and seizure because anywhere you as a police
officer can be legally, so can the dog. The dog is just a tool that the
officer uses," he said.

In addition, officers with drug-sniffing dogs usually ask for the person's
consent to search them after a dog "hits" on the person, he said. If the
person refuses, he or she can be detained until a warrant is obtained, he said.

Regardless of how people feel about the dog or why the program was
scrapped, officials say they will give it serious thought before Mattie
boards a train again.

"Because of the mixed reviews, I don't think it's anything we're going to
jump into with both feet right away," Keller said.