BART CANCELS DRUG-SNIFFING CANINE PATROL

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 effort drew mixed reviews.

``Some feel real strongly it is worthwhile, while others see it as going too
far,'' BART Director Joel Keller said. ``It's a balancing act.''

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 San
Francisco International Airport is completed later this year, BART spokesman
Mike Healy said.

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, BART police Cmdr. Wade Gomes said.

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
bags 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.

The effort drew mixed reviews.

Joseph Tieger, a former civil rights attorney, was ``delighted'' the program
was discontinued, and he said the people cited and arrested deserve 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 said they 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.