Local K-9s regularly check high schools for drugs, but can’t detect fentanyl | The Daily Courier

With the tenacity of a pet seeking a treat, Blue, Prescott Police Department’s sole K-9, briskly sniffed lockers at Prescott High School on Tuesday morning, April 2.

The 3-year-old Labrador retriever had been brought to the school by her handler, Officer Shawn Bray, to conduct a random drug sweep at the high school’s request.

“This is private property, so [school administrators] have to invite us to do this kind of stuff,” Bray said. “If I just showed up on my own without anyone’s permission and just started running cars in the parking lot, it runs into a whole search-and-seizure issue.”

Though Bray has had Blue for two years, he has visited PHS for random sniff checks only a handful of times.

“We just started it again this year, and I want to at least once a month come here at random,” Bray said. “It would be nice, once we get another dog, to do a random check once a week. It’s good for the dog, it’s good for us and it’s good just to keep the kids on their toes; let them know that we’re looking, and maybe they’ll not bring that stuff to school. I’d rather not find anything,”

These random checks, he explained, are quick and easy. The school typically will select a hallway of lockers for Blue to sweep and just let Bray do his business with the assistance of a school resource officer and a couple school administrators.

To keep Blue interested in the hunt on Tuesday, Bray had school officials place two marijuana-coated cotton balls in empty lockers along the search route. As soon as Blue alerted to one of the decoys, Bray rewarded her with her toy.

“It’s just to keep her happy, give her a toy and keep her working a little harder,” Bray said.

Within about 10 minutes, Blue was gassed and Bray decided to call off any further searching. No actual drugs were found in any of the students’ lockers.

“Dogs burn out pretty quick when you use them for odor detection, because it’s a lot of work,” Bray said. “We’re usually good for a few sections of lockers, three or four cars, and then she’s done.”

Similar drug sweeps are practiced in both Prescott Valley and Chino Valley by those towns’ K-9 units, but all officers are limited in what they can sniff out.

FENTANYL TRAINING BEING DEVELOPED

Like those in much of the southwestern U.S., local K-9 units are certified through the National Police Canine Association (NPCA) to detect the odor of four illicit substances: marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin. No certification currently exists through NPCA to detect fentanyl.

The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office (YCSO) is looking to change that.

In October, the agency purchased Haddie, a 4-year-old German shepherd, from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for $5,000. She was no longer of value to Canada’s police force.

“When they legalized marijuana in Canada, Canada had to cycle out all their K-9s that had marijuana training,” said Sgt. Jared Winfrey, who heads up YCSO’s K-9 unit.

What she came equipped with, however, is of great value to YCSO: formal training on how to detect fentanyl. The RCMP has been one step ahead of most police agencies in this respect, having already developed and implemented fentanyl-detection certifications for their K-9s.

Since getting Haddie, Winfrey has been looking at RCMP’s K-9 training policies and procedures to see how YCSO can implement them as well.

It is dangerous to train a K-9 to sniff out fentanyl, he said, due to the drug’s potency, so what the RCMP has been doing is significantly diluting the drug with water and putting drops of it on clean cotton pads that K-9s can safely use for training.

“We’re working with [NPCA] to get a certification set up for it,” Winfrey said.

Once NPCA standardizes a certification for fentanyl, any K-9 unit can add it to their repertoire, he said.

In the meantime, YCSO deputies who suspect drugs are being transported have been directed to ask drivers if any fentanyl is in their vehicles.

“Fentanyl is technically illegal unless you have a prescription for it, which almost no one does,” Winfrey said.

Based on how the driver reacts to the question, the officer may ask that Haddie be brought to the scene to do an exterior sniff of the vehicle.

Winfrey expects that NPCA will have a fentanyl certification within the next few months. After that, he said it only takes a month or two to train a K-9 to detect an odor.

“Once [K9s] figure out what the game is, and the game being ‘I want you to seek out this odor, sit and stare at the source of it,’ it’s really easy to add another odor,” he said.