By Sam Acar
The recent bomb threat to CSU-Pueblo caused the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Department to postpone a Campus Safety Week demonstration of their K9 unit, Tuesday.
The demonstration was canceled because it was lower in priority than the safety of the students on campus, said Jason Turner, the director of environmental health and safety at CSU-Pueblo. The demonstration will be rescheduled and the new date will be announced.
The demonstration would have showcased the safety resources available to the campus community. It would have highlighted the abilities of a police K9 unit, including narcotics detection, tracking and suspect apprehension.
The K9 unit scheduled to conduct the demonstration was police officer, Brandon Talton, and his K9 P.C. Talton said that P.C.’s name can stand for “Probable Cause,” “Pueblo County” or “Politically Correct.”
P.C. is trained in the detection of narcotics, including marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin, he said.
On Nov. 17, 2010 Talton and P.C. made a routine traffic stop that turned into a drug bust. According to a Pueblo Country Sheriff’s news release, they initially located two ounces of methamphetamine, two ounces of cocaine and $1,100 in cash in the car.
After searching the vehicle they obtained permission to search the suspect’s home and another vehicle on his property. The secondary search yielded an additional four ounces of cocaine and $14,000 in cash.
Aside from narcotics detection, P.C. is also trained in tracking and suspect apprehension.
Talton and P.C. competed in the United States Police Canine Association Region 14’s 2009 PDI trials. They placed third in the criminal apprehension without gunfire category.
At the demonstration, they planned to demonstrate this skill on a volunteer.
The K9 unit might also be making more “regular” visits to the residence halls, Talton said. This is most likely to discourage the use of illegal drugs on campus.
