K-9 team�s top drug nose nearly lost his job - May 23, 2004

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53 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, May 1, 2005   Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery  | Contact Us       SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries   Life   Opinion   Tempo   AP News   Weather   Classified   Archives   Site Map   SPECIAL SECTIONS   Since We Asked   Outdoor Journal   Menu Guide   How To Guide   Health   Readers' Choice   Real Estate Showcase   Real Estate Guide   Joy Magazine   Homelife Magazine   Wedding Guide   Passport to the Rogue Valley   SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad  TOP JOBS   EXTRA   Ashland News   NIE   Personals   Movie Times   TV Times   E The People   Volunteer   Moving here?  eSouthernOregon   CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 23, 2004 Oregon State Police Detective Dave Beck and his partner, Beepers, won the �President�s Award� for the Pacific Northwest Police Detection Dog Association. Beepers is a very busy drug-detecting dog working out of OSP�s Central Point office. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven K-9 team’s top drug nose nearly lost his job By JACK MORAN Mail Tribune The way Dave Beck puts it, he’s nothing more than a chauffeur for Beepers, Oregon State Police’s one and only drug-detecting dog. When called to the scene of a drug search, Beepers doesn’t need to be told what to do. Usually the husky black Labrador jumps out of Beck’s pickup, runs directly toward a home or car, starts sniffing around and scratches like crazy at a spot where he smells narcotics. "If he could drive, they wouldn’t need me," says Beck, an OSP detective who works out of the agency’s Southwest Regional Headquarters in Central Point. Beck might give all the credit to his canine partner, but others say the detective deserves most of the praise. There was a time, explained OSP Lt. Kurt Barthel, when the agency had little faith in Beepers, and considered deactivating the dog because of a below-average performance record. Advertisement OSP supervisors knew of Beck’s success during the nine years he worked with a previous OSP drug dog, Cazzie, and asked if he would try to salvage Beepers, Barthel said. "Dave wound up taking hold of Beepers and in no time at all, turned him into an amazing, dope-finding machine," Barthel said. "They’re a great team, and it’s not uncommon to get calls from other parts of the state for them to come up and help out on a bust." Earlier this month, the Pacific Northwest Police Detection Dog Association presented Beck with the 2004 "President’s Award" for his work with Cazzie and Beepers. The association represents "K-9" teams from seven western states and all of western Canada. In his 13-year OSP career, Beck and his two K-9 partners have seized about 56 pounds of methamphetamine, 194 pounds of cocaine, 372 pounds of marijuana and 16 ounces of heroin. Beepers, who has worked alongside Beck for nearly four years, found more than half of those narcotics. He’s taken part in two of the largest cocaine seizures in state history, including a bust last year on Interstate 5 near Central Point that netted more than 80 pounds of the drug. Beepers alerted officers to another 80 or so pounds of cocaine after a traffic stop near Roseburg. "He’s no different than any other Lab," insists Beck, who takes Beepers everywhere he goes. "He’s just trained for the odor of narcotics." Beck said statistics show Jackson County is the right place for OSP to keep its only drug dog. The county is a federally designated "high intensity drug trafficking area", and much of Beck’s (and Beepers’) work involves assisting multi-agency drug teams in Southern Oregon. "Having the only dog makes it tough sometimes," Beck said. "We stay busy." But the constant activity doesn’t seem to tire Beepers, whom Beck says doesn’t even look at his job as "work". "For him, it’s just play," he said. "As a handler, you have to keep that in perspective." Reach reporter Jack Moran at 776-4459, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home  | Local News  | Sports  | Business  | Obituaries  | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives  |  Site Map  | Community  | Classified   Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Distance Education Diamonds Online Poker Slippers Student Loans Tatoo tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Website Design & Marketing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoos Advertisement s