By Cathy Higgins
BAY MINETTE, Ala. — Buster, the drug dog, may soon leave the Bay Minette Police Department.
During Monday’s Bay Minette City Council meeting, Bay Minette Police Chief Michael Rowland asked the council for permission to sell the canine. The request, he said, was made because of the dog’s lack of involvement in Bay Minette drug arrests.
Rowland explained that the department’s drug task force made 28 arrests in the last year, and Buster was implemented in a small fraction of them.
“Of those, the drug dog was only used in two cases,” he said. “In 2010, he was used three times.”
Rowland did say that Buster’s abilities are not at fault. Instead, the problem stemmed from its handler, who took part in 11 drug cases this year without using the canine.
“This came to my attention a couple of months ago,” the police chief said.
Plus, for the last several weeks, the dog’s skills have been put to use in Creola, where he has been loaned.
“He’s been very effective there,” Rowland said, explaining that such a loan is not unusual among police departments.
He added that the Creola Police Department wants to purchase Buster for $3,000.
“This would allow us to recoup what we paid for him,” Rowland said.
He added that in Bay Minette, Buster’s most effective use has been as a public-relations tool.
“He’s been very popular in the schools,” the police chief said. “But that’s not what we got him for.”
“Why wasn’t this brought to us before?” asked District 5 Representative Chris Norman.
Rowland said previous police issues have been handled internally.
“The only thing we’re bringing to you is the fact that we want to sell the dog,” he said.
The police chief added that selling Buster would not mean an end to Bay Minette’s drug-dog unit. Instead, his intention to expand the department is to advertise for a police officer who is already canine trained and has their own dog.
“But we may not get anything from that,” Rowland said. “We’ll just have to see what happens.
The police chief also pointed out that his decision to sell Buster was part of his ongoing evaluation of the police department.
“This re=evaluation of the K-9 Drug program has truly shown that this is not working,” Rowland said.
Bay Minette Mayor Jamie Tillery added that the drug dog is not the police force’s only tactic to combat drug abuse in the city.
“I think you are remiss if you don’t note the fact that there are hundreds of programs the Bay Minette Police Department is implementing to combat and prevent the use of drugs, she said, citing among them the Youth and Citizen’s academies and the police department’s high profile at Baldwin County High School. “These programs have been shown to strengthen law enforcement and reduce drug use.”
Following the discussion, the council decided to table consideration of the sale until all members could gain more information.
