[Cagdu] FW: [seeing-eye] Career change Seeing Eye dog - Ready to take a bite out of crime

Sun Dec 11 10:46:51 PST 2016

Subject: [seeing-eye] Career change Seeing Eye dog - Ready to take a bite out of crime

Ready to take a bite out of crime

Photo by Daniel Freel/New Jersey Herald Gibbs, a new K-9 who will be stationed within the Sussex County Bureau of Corrections, sits by during the K-9 graduation

ceremony on Thursday at the Keogh-Dwyer Correctional Facility in Newton. 

By  Lori Comstock

New Jersey Herald 

Posted: Dec. 11, 2016 12:01 am 

NEWTON -- With a black and tan coat of hair, a lean build and a keen sense for sniffing out narcotics, a new furry officer is joining the team at the Sussex County Bureau of Corrections at the Keogh-Dwyer Correctional Facility -- a first for the department,

Weighing in at about 70 pounds, Gibbs, a German shepherd just shy of 2  ears old, has aced the New Jersey Department of Corrections Special Operations Group K-9 Scent Class #13, a 11-week training encompassing 352 hours, to become a certified narcotics detection K-9 dog.

Gibbs will now be stationed at the county jail with his new handler, Corrections Officer Roger Skove.

On Thursday morning inside the offices of the county's Bureau of Corrections, Sussex County Sheriff Michael Strada presented Gibbs with his very own Sheriff's

Department badge to wear on his collar and granted Skove a certificate of recognition.

Strada, after thanking all those who were involved in the training, said that with the addition of Gibbs, it will be easier to spot those coming into the jail with narcotics.

"We have individuals that are coming into the jail that are ingesting narcotics that we have no way of detecting. We have no way to know whether these people have any sort of narcotics on them at all," Strada said. "It isn't until later that one of the officers may spot it (on someone) just doing their job. It's phenomenal the liability the county could take on by these narcotics getting in the jail."

Although dogs aren't able to sniff ingested drugs, they can sniff residue that is located on fingers and clothing.

According to Strada, under state law, officers are not allowed to strip search an inmate depending on the level of the crime.

According to a Supreme Court ruling, a search on an individual can be done if there is probable cause, i.e., a K-9 dog sniffs it, to believe that an individual has drugs on them.

Gibbs, who will have recertifications with Skove every three months, can sniff out marijuana, ecstasy, powder cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamines and heroin.

Lt. Frank Martin, state Department of Corrections Special Operations Group K-9 supervisor, said that K-9 dogs are able to detect fentanyl used in the production of heroin.

Gibbs' intense training with a certified K-9 trainer, Department of Corrections Senior Corrections Officer Juan Castano, which was done in connection with Skove, involved the use of many facilities across the state. Training also included more than 100 different vehicles, where drugs were distributed throughout

for Gibbs to sniff out.

Although Gibbs will come to work with Skove and leave with him each day, ultimately becoming a part of his family at home, Skove said that during training it was important Gibbs focuses on work and not play.

Skove, a self-proclaimed dog lover, said his connection with Gibbs was immediate and the two have worked well together.

"When I wear my jeans, he knows it's his time to relax, and when I put on my uniform, he is ready and waiting for me to go to work," Skove said.

In addition, Gibbs knows when he is at work because he starts to walk around sniffing in an inverted V, a term used to describe proper technique for a dog sniffing for drugs by alternating sniffing low and sniffing high, Skove said.

Gibbs started out as a Seeing Eye dog through The Seeing Eye of Morristown Inc., where he lived with a foster family for about a year and a half, according to Cathy Faas, adoptions coordinator for The Seeing Eye of Morristown Inc.

Although Gibbs didn't make the cut as a dog for the blind, Faas made a phone call to the state Department of Corrections, with which The Seeing Eye has a good working relationship, and said she had a dog that the department might want to consider.

"If these dogs have too much energy, that is good for us since that means they will have a good drive," Martin said.

According to Strada, the county Bureau of Corrections had been considering getting a dog for the jail, and upon hearing that, Skove wrote a letter of interest to his superior inquiring about getting his own K-9.

"I was approved, and from there, was paired up with Gibbs to complete our training together," Skove said.

"(Skove and Gibbs) had met all the standards set forth by the attorney general and they will be a tremendous asset to the Sussex County jail," said Sgt. James Erven, state Department of Corrections director of the K-9 Training Unit.

Gibbs has come to the bureau at no cost to the Sussex County Sheriff's Office since the Seeing Eye of Morristown Inc. offers the dogs free of charge and the Department of Corrections completes the training free of charge as well.

Gibbs is the first narcotics dog at the county's Bureau of Corrections, but two K-9 dogs work in the county's Law Enforcement Bureau.

Eggo, a German shepherd, who is trained in explosives, and Kilo, a German shepherd, who is trained in narcotics, are both stationed with patrol officers

for tracking and apprehension purposes, according to Sussex County Undersheriff Keith Armstrong.

Although not all K-9 dogs are German shepherds, the dogs are ideal, Martin said, because they not only are great working dogs but "nine times out of 10,

if they have a scent problem, we can correct it."

A working K-9 dog's life on the job depends on the specific dog, but on average, according to Susan Aber, canine development at The Seeing Eye of Morristown Inc., a working dog will retire after seven years and live out the rest of its life, hopefully, with the handler's family.

Lori Comstock can also be reached on Twitter: @LoriComstockNJH or by phone: 973-383-1194.

Source: http://www.njherald.com/20161211/ready-to-take-a-bite-out-of-crime

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