Oct. 12 event to help raise money to supplement unit, purchase second K-9
K-9 handler, Sgt. Steven Smith and “Luca” work as a team and trained as a team together over the past four years. “Luca” is also like family to Smith.
By Becky Long
Publisher
You may have heard of Clay County Sheriff’s Officer K-9 “Luca,” assisting in numerous drug busts, but “Luca” is much more than a police dog with a nose for narcotics — he is well-trained, certified and an important tool in law enforcement and even search and rescue.
Considering the success of “Luca’s” work in the line of duty, the sheriff’s office could use another K-9 officer and they are receiving help in this endeavor from The Clay County K-9 Initiative.
The nonprofit organization is holding a fundraiser to help supplement the sheriff’s office current K-9 program and to purchase a second K-9. The initiative was founded by Lynn Smith, Lorelei Nussbaum and Brenda Lovett.
The fund-raising event will be held at Mountain Harbour Clubhouse, from 5-7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12. Cost is $20 at the door or in advance and it includes live music, silent auction, cash bar and raffles. The clubhouse is located at 1665 Mountain Harbour Drive in Hayesville.
“Having another K-9 would allow each of the two patrol squads to have access to a K-9,” said Sheriff Mark Buchanan. “Law enforcement K-9s are very expensive, costing well over $10,000 just to purchase, train and initially equip.”
The sheriff’s office refrained from requesting county funds for a second K-9, instead concentrating on funding for other areas of operational needs, according to Buchanan who said the county went “above and beyond,” in funding the sheriff’s office.
Buchanan explained, “Officers on patrol must only have ‘reasonable suspicion’ to stop vehicles traveling on our roadways. To search a vehicle without a person’s consent, an officer must have ‘probable cause’ which is a higher standard of certainty than reasonable suspicion. This is exactly where having a K-9 is so important. A positive alert for drugs by a trained K-9 can make the difference in being able to legally search a vehicle for drugs and not.”
“Luca’s” handler, Sgt. Steven Smith concurs with Buchanan and explains why the earlier K-9 programs here did not withstand the test of time.
“Prior to Dec. 20, 2020 Clay County had a rather sporadic program regarding K-9s within the agency,” said Smith. “Clay County Sheriff’s Office had a couple of donated dogs that were resourced from a K-9 rehabilitation center from Texas. These donated dogs were found to be an asset to the agency, but due to personnel changes and the ages of the dogs, their tenure at the Clay County Sheriff’s Office was unfortunately short-lived.”
“Luca” was born locally in July 2019. Smith describes “Luca,” as more than just a police dog. “‘Luca’ has been a member of my family since he was 8 weeks old,” he said.
Smith and “Luca,” underwent arduous training to become qualified after Smith became affiliated with the Macon County Sheriff’s Office K-9 program headed by Captain Clay Bryson and what Smith describes as his “carefully chosen and truly amazing well qualified” K-9 handlers.
“K-9 ‘Luca’ and I began a long and grueling endeavor of working 12-hour night shifts followed by 8 to 10-hour training sessions during the day, once a week until we reached the point of obtaining our first certification as a K-9 team through the North American Police Work Dog Association or NAPWDA as it is known across the United States,” Smith said. NAPWDA is a nationally accredited K-9 certification organization which holds standards far above most individual states requirements
Since obtaining their first certification in December 2020, “Luca” and Smith progressed from single purpose to a dual purpose K-9 team where “Luca” was awarded the title of Full Patrol K-9.
“A single purpose K-9 is usually bound to just the detection of narcotic odors, a full patrol K-9 team is certified in the detection of narcotic odors, tracking and apprehension of suspects, conducting building and open area searches, open area article searches and off-leash obedience,” said Smith.
Just how good is a K-9’s sense of smell? Smith said a canine has more than 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses making the average canine’s sense of smell between 10,000 and 100,000 times more sensitive than that of a human.
“Where a particular police officer may smell the odor of a McDonald’s hamburger coming from within the vehicle, a dog can detect the sesame seeds that are on the bun of that hamburger, even if it has been in your center console for a week,” he said.
Smith and “Luca” are obviously a well-trained team, but do Clay County residents see tangible benefits from the K-9 program?
The sergeant says yes and it appears in the form of arrest warrants.
Since December 2020 K-9 “Luca” has been responsible for the seizure of more than 381 grams of methamphetamine, approximately 27 grams of heroin, 1,169 pills of compressed fentanyl and 3 grams of cocaine, according to Smith.
“‘Luca’ has been responsible for the arrest of at least 67 individuals directly related to narcotic discoveries based off positive alerts for the presence of narcotic odors,” Smith said. “‘Luca’ has been a tremendous asset to not only the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, but also to the citizens of Clay County who benefit from not having these deadly narcotics floating around the community.”
While most agree K-9s are an asset to any police agency, Smith says smaller departments like in Clay County benefit the most.
“On a good day in Clay County, we will have three officers on shift at one time. Having a K-9 is at times as good as having another officer working to assist in some of the vicarious situations we may find ourselves in at times,” he said. “‘Luca’ has proven himself and his worth during his time at the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. With large discoveries of narcotics, successful tracking and apprehensions of suspects and recovered evidence, ‘Luca’ has been so beneficial to this community. However, the only problem we tend to run into is that we only have one K-9 team in Clay County. With the proof in the pudding of what ‘Luca’ has accomplished in just shy of four years here, just imagine the possibilities of having another K-9 team on the streets when ‘Luca’ and I are off.”
As a K-9 handler and a department supervisor, Smith said he believes a K-9 really should be on every shift.
“The benefits and return on investment when it comes to a K-9 far outweigh any negative points that could be imagined from the most anti-law enforcement activist. Not only that, but what a career I have riding around this county day in and day out with my best friend in the backseat willing to do anything I ask of him at a moment’s notice,” said Smith.