By Spencer Burt
The Logan City Police Department made three separate drug-related arrests with the help of its K-9 unit this weekend.
According to Lt. Brad Franke, all three of these occurred as a result of traffic stops. They were unrelated, but they were all found to be in possession of narcotics.
"Officers can request the K-9 unit to do an open-air sniff during any traffic stop, as long as it doesn't delay or extend it beyond the normal amount of time," Franke said. "Usually that's about 10 minutes."
If the dog is alerted to the scent of narcotics around the vehicle, the police are able to extend the time of the stop and perform a search.
Franke said the department has two police dogs and two certified dog handlers. These officers are sent to a training facility in Indiana for six to eight weeks before they become certified.
"These are drug detection dogs, but they're also trained in tracking people and apprehension," Lt. Bret Randall said. In Logan, they are mostly used for open air sniffs around vehicles during traffic stops. Randall said they sometimes perform up to nine sniffs in one night.
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