Last updated 17 months ago 
VACAVILLE, CA - California prison officials have launched a demonstration project to see if dogs can help stem the flow of smuggled cell phones.
Cell phones create a security problem both inside and outside the institutions because inmates are able to communicate without using monitored prison landline phones.
A five-year-old Belgian Malinois named Caesar has completed training to become the first phone-sniffing dog in the California prison system.
Caesar's handler, Sgt. Wayne Conrad, said cell phones emit an odor distinct from other electronic devices. Conrad planted several phones in a prison building and in an individual cell, and Caesar found all of them.
Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland and Virginia are also using dogs to detect cell phones in prison.
Correctional officers at California State Prison, Solano have confiscated more than 2,000 cell phones in the past three years, according to Lt. Robin Bond of the prison's security and investigation unit.
Bond says many of the phones are brought in by the guards themselves, who face no harsher punishment if caught than termination. One guard who was fired admitted making $100,000 in a single year by smuggling cell phones to inmates.
Corrections officials are seeking to criminalize the possession and smuggling of cell phones in prison. A legislative hearing on the issue scheduled for April 14 at the state capitol.
Associate Director Richard Subia said he would seek funding for additional search dogs if the experience with Caesar proves worthwhile.
KXTV/News10
