Dogs In Jail

Prison is about incarceration, but it’s also about denial. Few choices are available, but inmates still manage to get their hands on prized items like drugs and even cell phones. To sniff out this contraband, California prisons are turning to a pack of highly trained canines. Dogs have been used to find narcotics and contraband by The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) for several years, but now they’re being used to find other items like cell phones and nicotine.

The additions to the program came at the request of Richard Subia, Deputy Director, Division of Adult Institutions at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He contacted Sgt. Wayne Conrad, who handles CDCR's dog training program, to suggest the idea, according to a report on CNN’s Larry King Live.

Drug-sniffing Dogs

Many of the drug-sniffing dogs have been donated, with the first dog, a Belgian Malinois, joining the program in February 2009. Training takes place at the Richard A. McGee Training Center in Galt, California, where the dogs must pass the department's 160-hour detection training, according to Larry King Live.The dogs are trained to detect marijuana, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines, tobacco and cell phones. The plan is to eventually place a dog at every California state prison.

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