PERRYSBURG TOWNSHIP, OH
(Toledo News Now) – With heroin use rising, more police departments in the area
are utilizing a special weapon to fight what they call an epidemic.
The Perrysburg Township
Police's special weapon is called X, their K-9 drug dog. In a demonstration,
Detective Sergeant James Gross drove a vehicle with heroin in the trunk. K-9
Handler Jason Gladney followed like it was a routine stop. They lapped the car
and within seconds X marked the spot.
The police said timing is
the key.
"It goes really fast,"
said Gladney. "It cuts out a lot of steps. As long as we're not detaining anybody
longer than reasonable, it's a free search."
X's sense of smell is 50
times more powerful than a human's. He's trained to smell heroin, cocaine,
marijuana and methamphetamine. If he senses any of those inside a vehicle, the
department can then search it.
Several local departments
now use K-9s to search for drugs, which allows detectives more time to work on
the "bigger fish" involved in the drug trade.
"What I do may take weeks,
months, or even longer," explained Gross. "[But] a dog stops a car and within
20 minutes he can recover narcotics, marijuana, heroin – whatever it may be."
A few weeks ago, X smelled
something during a routine search, and when officers looked inside the vehicle,
they discovered 11 pounds of drugs.
Local departments are
happy to have K-9 officers and dogs giving them such a boost.
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Officer Gladney with X.
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