Canine Officers Impress Fruitvale Fifth-Graders

Staff Writer

FRUITVALE—When Edgewood Police Department Officer Jackie Buccafurno brings her special band of narcotics officers into a classroom, they quickly get students’ attention.

Last week, fifth-graders in Fruitvale ISD’s Together Against Drug Abuse program got an up-close look at canine narcotics officers Fasco and Piper, as well as a therapy and safety education canine named K.C.

Fasco, a Belgian Malinois, has been with Buccafurno since her days at the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office.

"Fasco has 2,000 pounds of narcotics discoveries under his collar," she said. "He is 8 years old and is a full patrol dog."

There was a little extra training required for Buccafurno when she first acquired Fasco: She had to learn to speak Dutch because Fasco was initially trained in Holland.

Her newest narcotics enforcement sidekick, Piper, is a 3-year-old Giant Schnauzer. Buccafurno said Piper recently made her first drug bust.

Buccafurno showed the fifth-grade students how the dogs work during a drug search, pointing out that they are attached to a certain toy and see the toy as a reward for finding any illegal drugs.

K.C., also a Giant Schnauzer, is used exclusively for canine therapy programs and safety education for younger children.

"I use K.C. to help me teach programs like ‘Stranger Danger,’ ‘Stop, Drop and Roll,’ and ‘Just Say No,’" Buccafurno said.

She also brought a display case of various drug paraphernalia and answered questions from the students about the identity and use of many of the items.

Smith County Sheriff’s Deputy Janet Calder, who started the TADA program at Fruitvale, said the students seemed to learn a lot from Buccafurno’s presentation.

"This is our second year with the program. The students seem to really absorb it in and they want to learn," she said.

Targeting the fifth-graders is key in the effort of local law enforcement agencies to curb drug use among youth.

"We want to teach them when they are young to stay away from it. Hopefully, we can curb the drug abuse problem we have. Drugs are the root of all our crime, basically," Calder said.

The program is sponsored by the Grand Saline Masonic Lodge No. 1269. Calder said a kickoff program was held just before the holidays in December.

She added that educational presentations will continue through May, finishing off with an end-of-school-year party provided by Lodge No. 1269.