East Lyme- Harley, the East Lyme Police Department's police dog, may be only 2 1/2 years old, but he's running up an impressive record on the force.
"For the year, he's got 28 arrests," said Officer Ken Mellor, Harley's owner, talking about cases the dog's been involved with since January. Since May alone, Harley's been involved with 14 drug arrests in town, involving marijuana, cocaine, crack, ecstasy and heroin, Mellor said
Last week, 55 teams (dog and handler) from throughout Connecticut and Rhode Island participated in a weeklong training seminar run by the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association. Most of the training, Mellor said, took place in East Lyme, with the balance organized in Waterford and New London.
The former Millstone Discovery Center, in Niantic, which has been leased by the town and will be the temporary home for East Lyme police, was one training site.
Officer William Scribner, of the New Milford Police Department, is a master trainer. Last week, he put Harley, among plenty of other dogs and handlers, through their narcotic-search paces.
In one room at the former Discovery Center, a bag of cocaine was stashed in a desk drawer. The room was also laden with opened cans of cat food and hot dogs. The training, of course, was all about keeping the dogs focused on the task at hand, without being distracted by the other scents in the room.
First, Harley was "teased" into an excited lather to generate momentum, before being led around the room at a brisk pace.
"If we slow the tempo down, then he's going to start smelling all those different things," Scribner said.
Harley, having been scent-imprinted with narcotics, stopped at the desk drawer, pawing at it, while Mellor asked him, "Where is it? Show me."
Once the officer found the drugs, he patted Harley, and rewarded him with his favorite toy -- a rolled-up towel -- before taking him out of the search area.
"He's got his reward. He's the victor. He's got his towel and we're allowing him to win," Scribner explained.
Harley was also successful in finding cocaine and heroin in two additional rooms. Distractions included patches of gauze with dog saliva on them and tennis balls.
Scribner explained that there are patrol dogs, which track suspects or missing persons, for example, and dogs that specialize, through imprinting, in locating substances like narcotics, explosives and accelerants.
In the front portion of the Millstone building, building-search training was taking place under the supervision of Dr. Steve McKenzie, a master trainer from Cobleskill, N.Y. McKenzie is an animal science professor, specializing in behavior, at the State University of New York's Cobleskill campus.
Officer Anthony Lucca, from the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, and his German shepherd, Frankie, were one team practicing building searches.
With a police officer hiding in a room with the door closed, Lucca, on one knee, and with Frankie on a tight leash, announced his presence, instructing the would-be subject to come out, or a dog was coming in; and, that if he did not remain still, the dog would bite.
Lucca let Frankie off his leash, and the dog headed into the space at a brisk clip. Picking up the subject's scent outside the closed door, Frankie began scratching at the door and barking loudly.
Lucca joined his dog, and attached his leash, having successfully found the subject of his search.
Harley's seen some real action lately, with regard to locating subjects.
"He's caught like six burglars this summer," Mellor said.
East Lyme's resident state trooper, Sgt. Michael Collins, said, "If you're out there, he'll find you." He also talked about the weeklong seminar taking place, for the most part, in East Lyme.
"To be able to host training like this (is) phenomenal," Collins said.
"We're building rapport with other officers," Mellor added.
Mellor said three area police officers organized the seminar: Sgt. Michael Ravenelle, from the Ledyard Police Department, Officer Daniel Lane, from the Waterford Police Department, and Sgt. William Nott, from the New London Police Department.