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| Donation Benefits OSP Drug Dog Program | ||
| 04/02/2007 | ||
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Detective David Beck Phone: (541) 776-3667 ext. 232 Cell: (541) 941-1217 Oregon State Police (OSP) Superintendent Timothy McLain announced his appreciation for a generous donor’s contribution, in memory of the donor’s mother, that provided the department another Drug Detection Canine to help in the effort to find illegal drugs along our highways and in our communities. Assigned to the Patrol Services Division the new drug dog and handler will be working out of The Dalles Area Command office joining five other drug dogs, one of which will be retiring at the end of March, available to help public safety agencies throughout Oregon. “Brogan”, a 2-year old black Labrador, was purchased and trained through a $10,000 donation provided by Mr. John Winschel from Grants Pass. Mr. Winschel gave the donation in honor of his mother, Anna Hood, who passed away within the last year.  “Brogan” underwent training in Washington provided by Master trainer Fred Helfers, assisted by trainers Christina Bunn and OSP Detective Dave Beck. Following the initial training, “Brogan” and her handler, Trooper Scott Rector, completed a two-week Basic Handler School where they received training to conduct searches of vehicles, buildings, storage facilities, luggage, and various other environments and locations. “Brogan joins 4 other narcotics detection dogs working with OSP patrol troopers on Oregon highways and comes at a vital time when we will be losing Beepers, our most experienced drug dog,” said Superintendent McLain. “We are so appreciative of this generous donation that will enhance law enforcement efforts around the state to find drugs before they get in our communities.” Within the last year, OSP welcomed another drug dog, “Reggie”, a 2-year old male black Labrador, teamed with his handler, Senior Trooper Joe Delgreco, at the OSP Salem Area Command office. OSP has used specially trained dogs with patrol troopers since 1989, and these dogs are assigned to handlers in Springfield, Salem, Central Point, The Dalles and Pendleton.  Detective Dave Beck, Drug Dog Detection Program Coordinator assigned in the OSP Drug Enforcement Section, explained the narcotics detection canines are trained to detect the odors from the controlled substances of Marijuana, Cocaine, Heroin and Methamphetamine. “The dog's keen sense of smell is vastly superior to that of the human, and is invaluable", said Detective Beck, who has been working with dogs for over 17 years and is the handler of OSP's sixth narcotics detection canine named "Beepers", an 11-year old male black Labrador, who will be retiring at the end of March after nine years with the Department. Until nearly 3 years ago “Beepers” was OSP’s only drug dog, traveling throughout Oregon assisting OSP and other Federal, State and local agencies during searches and operations. “Beepers” has been an example of a drug dog’s value while conducting over 900 searches during training and on-the-job application. While ‘on duty’, “Beepers” has tallied an impressive array of statistics by finding:
 Several past cases have clearly demonstrated the value of drug detection dogs in helping discover illegal drugs on our highways and in our communities.
 On June 4, 2006 an OSP Senior Trooper accompanied by his drug detection canine were involved in a traffic stop northbound on Interstate 5 north of Central Point. With the assistance of the dog, approximately 200 pounds of marijuana was found concealed behind the passenger compartment of the pickup.
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