Corrections officer dog 1 of kind in jail

detention center is now home to a very special and highly trained k-9: “nats get on the ground do it now.” dallas is an 80 pound schnauzer. he’s been trained to sniff out drugs … and although he cost county taxpayers a pretty penny … we’ve learned the county hopes the dog will help it is save money in the long run by helping prevent physical confrontations between inmates … thus keeping its corrections officers safe. abc-7’s jamie warren is live from our new mexico mobile newsroom. jamie? rick — the man in charge of the dona ana county jail tells me that since dallas was brought on board … a team of three can control the entire jail with very little physical force. pkg this is the s-o-g unit, otherwise known as the special operations group, searching jail cells and inmates for contraband. 44:04:17 chris barela: “every year we bring in sog to make sure my guys are certified re-certified.” the members of s-o-g are not the only one who go through extensive training … so does their newest member: canine officer “dallas.” the jail canine is t first of its kind in the u.s. 15:40:08 joseph garcia: “70 percent of canines who go through the program wont make it.” dallas wen through two years of intense traing before joing the team. 44:28:51 chris: “we were looking for disturbance riot control and cell extraction.” jail administrator chris barela told me in the last 6 months there have been at least 7 instances where correctional officers had to be treated for injuries. he’s hoping dallas will off set that :41:31:26 chris: “the inmates that are a little harder to reach and harder to de escalate with people act differently and respond better to an animal.” dallas not only subdues inmates, it also leads officers to hidden contraband … like the black tar heroin found during this search. officers say confiscating just one drug with the help of dallas, takes away an inmate’s power :20:34:38 joseph: “that can be used to bu other drugs other paraphernalia its a motivater for others to do violence towards someone else.” dallas is valued at $50-thousand dollars. the dona ana county detention center bought him for $27- thousand dollars using jail funds. one-point-five million dollars. today, a judge