Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross

Sunday, December 23, 2001

sfgate.com

Looking back, BART Board member Dan Richards has only one thing to say about the transit system's recent experiment putting a dope-sniffing dog on trains: "We really stepped in it."

According to BART officials, the doggy dope-sniffing patrol, which was a joint (pardon the pun) program between the U.S. Customs Service and the rapid- transit cops, was merely an outgrowth of talks about BART's plans to start going directly into the airport.

"Customs had some concerns about smuggling, and one thing just led to another," said BART spokesman Mike Healy. "All they wanted to do was show how friendly and passively the dog interacted with passengers.

"The dog (Millie) was friendly and passive all right, but it also did what dope-sniffing dogs do, which is sniff out drugs on people," Healy added.

The result: one guy busted for having nine bags of pot, 13 people cited for smaller amounts -- and a whole lot of bad press.

"It was bad enough that we weren't told about the program before it started, " says board member Richards, "but then once the public outcry came, BART management just sat on their backsides.

"Well, it's over now. You can tell people we've called off the dogs, so to speak.

"I just hope that when you report all this you note that the cops are still working 12-hour days and standing out there on the platforms to make sure the trains are safe, which is what they are supposed to be doing," Richards said.