Conway Police Officer Clay Smith and his four-legged partner visited the Boys and Girls Club of Faulkner County on Monday to explain how useful dogs can be when it comes to fighting crime.
This event kicked off the club's first Meth Awareness Week during which the kids will hear from several local law enforcement officials about the growing problem of methamphetamine.
Meth is only one of the four drugs Smith's partner, a German shepherd named Grim, can detect, and the kids were very excited to hear exactly how these dogs are able to track it down.
Smith showed the kids how much bigger Grim's nose was than their own, saying he can sniff out clues that much better.
"You know when your mom makes a meatloaf, you guys just smell the meatloaf, but the dog would smell every single ingredient in it," Smith said.
He also told the group Grim barks when he finds the criminals or other missing people he is tracking and he scratches and paws at the places he finds hidden drugs.
"He has a ball that is his favorite toy in the whole world and when he finds drugs, we let him play with this ball because he thinks that is what he was looking for," Smith said.
Through a question and answer session with Smith, the group learned Grim only answers to commands given in Czech, he can jump a five-foot fence to catch a criminal and he wears his police badge around his neck.
Marie Abrams, program director for the Boys and Girls Club, said Grim's visit was a fun way to introduce the beginning of Meth Awareness Week and let the kids learn how drugs are tracked by the local police force.
Throughout this week, club members will hear from Faulkner County detectives, the prosecuting attorney and former meth users, write short essays about why this drug is bad for the community and pledge to be meth free.
"With Meth Awareness Week we are taking a stand against meth in our community for our kids," Abrams said Monday. "Because our kids need to be aware of what's going on in their surroundings."
The kids in the Boys and Girls Club recently narrowed their slogans for the week down to "Meth is for morons" and "The rush of meth is not worth death," according to Abrams.
"The kids picked those because they know a person has to be crazy to get hooked on meth and the bottom line is that it kills you," Abrams said. "And it often not only affects the person taking the drug, but everyone around them and basically the whole community."
Abrams added it is important to bring awareness of this drug to the children so they know the signs and symptoms to look for in the people they see every day.
"With meth, from what I understand, you can go to the grocery store and pick this stuff up and make it at home," Abrams said. "And the kids need to be educated on what to watch for."
(Staff writer Jessica Bauer can be reached by e-mail at jessica.bauer@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1236. To comment on this and other stories in the Log Cabin, log on to www.thecabin.net. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)
