Area resident outlines a troubling search
Marfa
A small number of Marfa residents have raised concerns about a new K-9 unit dog patrolling with the police department to work on drug interdiction, since they question whether a small town needs the dog, how much it will cost, and whether it will end up creating situations where people are illegally searched or pressured into allowing searches of themselves or their vehicles.
The City Council on October 22 approved a policy manual for the K-9—a Belgian Malinois named Roski—who came with its officer handler Kelsey Flores a few months ago from the Pecos Police Department. The council also agreed to a contract in which the city would purchase Roski from Flores for $1 and then sell it back to her for the same amount if she leaves the department. Left undecided was a stipend for Flores to help pay for the care of the dog and attending additional training in Pecos. The amount is still to be worked out between Police Chief Gilbert Carrillo and Mayor Manny Baeza, who said they would report back to the council on the proposal.
Marfa resident Robert Davis had posed questions on those issues in public comments, but one area of concern—an increase in searches of residents and travelers—was not discussed in detail. Another resident also asked why a city the size of Marfa needed a K-9, echoing comments made at a previous council meeting.
“This is all a violation of your U.S. Constitution, Fourth Amendment, which the police swear to uphold when they get their badge and their gun,” Davis told council members. He also queried them on whether the dog and officer were certified and the department was insured in case the K-9 bites someone.
Carrillo told the council that yes, the dog is certified for drug interdiction and detecting large amounts of cash and has nine years of experience with Flores. The city’s insurance policy will also cover the dog at an additional cost of about $700 a year, he said.
Carrillo said his department needs Roski. “So, there’s a lot of narcotics that go through town,” he said. He said his department sometimes has the ability to bring in a Border Patrol K-9 at a traffic stop, but since that’s not always a possibility, the idea of bringing on Flores and Roski was appealing. The district attorney’s office was consulted on letting the dog work before the council passed any policy or financial arrangements, and it agreed it was acceptable, so Roski started working.
The chief said the dog has already proven useful, resulting in hits on “a couple of pounds of narcotics.”
Not everyone is happy with the idea of the K-9 patrol. A source who asked to remain unnamed because of worries over future interactions with the police, said they were pulled over by Officer Flores for an absurd traffic violation in downtown Marfa.
The conversation with Officer Flores was pleasant but switched from how soon you need to turn on your turn signal before a turn to questions from the officer on whether they were in possession of any drugs. The driver said they did not have any drugs, at which point Flores asked for consent to search the car. When the driver declined, Flores brought in Roski, who circled the car for a length of time before she said it had alerted to the presence of drugs and the car would have to be searched.
In the end, no drugs were found. But the incident left the driver upset that a search had ever happened at all, because in their view, there was no probable cause to even ask for a search.
Carrillo, reached by phone Tuesday, said he would have to look through records to see which incident this was and what had occurred according to reports. On Friday, Big Bend Sentinel requested records of all incidents or arrests involving Roski’s searches. However, Carrillo noted that since the K-9 is not an officer or a named person in an incident, it would require going through every traffic stop—of which there are several each day—to locate those records, so fulfilling the request will take some time.
At the City Council meeting, Carrillo also addressed a question on whether the K-9 would detect legal products that contain THC, such as popular gummies and other hemp-derived products and synthetics that are supposedly under the THC limit allowed by law. He said it’s possible the dog would detect them, and the police would then have to work with those in possession to see if the products were indeed illegal or if they had approval for medical use.
Lt. Nichole Flores—second in command at the Marfa Police Department, who formerly was a K-9 officer—told the City Council she is supportive of the new unit. “There are going to be concerns about utilizing the K-9, thinking that we’re going to violate people’s rights,” she said. “But it is just another tool that we utilize to prevent illegal activities such as narcotics … So, it is a benefit in each and every way. These canines are highly certified, highly trained, and they know exactly what they’re doing, and the handler knows exactly what she’s doing as well.”