Oroville police to add drug-detecting dog to its school resource officer team
OROVILLE CA Sept 15 2018 — The Oroville Police Department is enlisting some four-legged assistance to keep Oroville school campuses drug free.
Frankie, an 8-month-old black Labrador retriever, was destined to be a police dog as he was bred for it. Once his training is complete, he will join school resource officers to patrol Oroville schools, likely in January.
New to the elementary and middle school level this year, three school resource officers now patrol the Thermalito Union Elementary, Oroville City Elementary and Oroville Union High school districts.
Officer Breck Wright, who is assigned to the high schools, said a trained dog is usually much more efficient than officers at locating narcotics.
Frankie can sniff out drugs in a classroom in 2-3 minutes, whereas it would likely take officers 20-30 minutes to complete the same task by hand, Wright said. The dog will be able to identify cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine and also paraphernalia including empty syringes.
Frankie is not aggressive. He will specifically be used for drug detection at local schools, playgrounds and parks — not for regular police patrols.
Students bringing narcotics to campus is more of an issue at the high school level, and the hope is that Frankie will be a deterrent, Wright said. The concern on other campuses is about people there after school hours who shouldn’t be, leaving behind drugs and accessories that children could come into contact with.
Frankie won’t be tasked with smelling students to search for illegal substances, he said. Rather, in a classroom where drugs are suspected to be located for instance, that room would be cleared out and left for Frankie to inspect.
His trainer is Tiffany Thompson, owner of the Oroville-based business For the Love of Dog. Thompson purchased the puppy and is providing all training at no cost. She motivates Frankie by rewarding him with food or a ball when he finds narcotics.
“You show up to work every day to get a paycheck,” she said. “Dogs are the same way.”
She has experience with training K9s but this is her first for the Oroville Police Department.
The estimated start-up cost to bring Frankie onto the force is $15,000 for equipment, certification and general living expenses.
For the Love of Dog is hosting a fundraiser on Oct. 15 from 5-9 p.m. at Round Table Pizza in Oroville, with 20 percent of proceeds going to the department to help with those costs.
There is also a GoFundMe webpage dedicated to a “Fundraiser for Frankie” hosted by Amanda Wentz with Three Hearts Veterinary Hospital. As of Thursday afternoon, $325 had been raised of the $15,000 goal.
chicoer
