|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
UK: Dogs hit the streets in war on drugs
The Staines Guardian
Thursday 16 Aug 2001 Specially-trained sniffer dogs took to the streets on Friday last week to continue the war against drugs. Two Surrey Police dog handlers brought their canine partners to Staines Town Centre and, backed by uniformed and plain clothes officers, took up their positions at Staines railway station and various locations in the town centre. During the course of the evening, one plain clothes officer was warned by a passer-by: "If you've got any gear on you, ditch it! The police will get it." Sixteen people were searched as part of Operation Husky, either because the dogs had picked them out, or because of their behaviour when they became aware of the police. Two people were subsequently found to be carrying drugs one was arrested and one was cautioned as a direct result of the initiative. "Friday's police operation was a great success and shows that we have the tools and the will to really disrupt the supply of drugs in Staines," said Spelthorne's borough Inspector Jerry Westerman. And he admitted that although Surrey Police have been praised for their efforts, it's the detective dogs who rightly deserve a lot of the credit. Quarry, a male yellow Labrador handled by PC John Burke and Lydia, a black bitch Labrador, handled by PS Johno Johnson, have both passed a passive drugs detection dog course. They are trained to recognise the scent of cannabis, cocaine, crack, amphetamines, ecstasy and heroin and will sit in front of anyone who has been contaminated by the scent of these drugs. "The police drugs detection dogs worked extremely well together with specially trained officers," said Inspector Westerman. And he issued a chilling warning to drugs users in the borough: "My message is loud and clear drugs and any anti-social behaviour associated with them or alcohol will not be tolerated in Staines. "I will be carrying out future operations like this in Staines and other parts of Spelthorne."
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!