Dogged measures of safety

Jose Paul Corona

A year after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 business owners in Huntington Beach have a new crime-fighting resource they

can consult to make their workplace safer.

Dennis Kennedy and his golden retriever, Cash, are for hire to

sniff out potential problems. Kennedy is the president of Security

Operations Group, in Huntington Beach, a private security firm that

provides firearm and bodyguard training. Many large companies hire

Kennedy to do security sweeps.

“We do all our work in plain clothes,” he said. By doing so he

avoids making anyone nervous or arousing suspicions, he said. “We can

go in and very discretely look for guns and explosives.”

Kennedy, a 50-year-old Air Force and Army veteran and former

Garden Grove police officer and Surf City resident, opened the firm

eight years ago in Long Beach, but moved his office to Huntington

Beach two years ago.

The newest member of the security firm’s team, Cash, a 2-year-old

golden retriever that Kennedy bought for $10,000, has filled a void

in the firm. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks

Kennedy began to get a lot of calls asking if he had a bomb-sniffing

dog. It wasn’t a service he had considered previously, but the high

number of requests convinced him that it was something that he should

look into.

Cash joined Security Operations Group last month, after 10 months

of intensive training, and has already sniffed out trouble for one

company. In a recent sweep of an office, Cash found a gun holster in

an employee’s desk.

The leather holster had been in a desk drawer hidden under some

papers for so long that it had left an impression in the drawer, said

Kennedy, who believes that the employee who had the holster in his

desk may have been tipped off to the security sweep and removed the

gun.

Large companies have hired the firm, rather than call police, to

avoid publicity if a weapon is found, Kennedy said.

“They decide how they want to deal with it, [which] might not be

to call the police,” he said.

He said his presence also acts a deterrent oftentimes and

reinforces a companies weapons policy at the same time.

“They want to make an impression, but without the bomb squad and

not on the 5 o’clock news,” he said.

Police officials don’t discourage business owners from using such

services, but said the proper authorities should be called if there

is a possible danger.

“If it makes people feel safe and they’re willing to spend the

money then it’s a good thing,” Huntington Beach Police Sgt. Gary Meza

said. “But if they see a suspicious device they should call us.”

While Cash has found firearms products, he has yet to find any

bombs. Despite Cash’s hefty price tag and extensive training, Kennedy

said he still finds himself in awe of what the dog can do.

“I’m just amazed that they can find these things,” he said, adding

that X-ray machines and other mechanical devices can’t do what Cash

does. “Bomb-sniffing dogs are the best tool in explosives detection.”

While Kennedy loves his dog and his work, he laments that people

need his services.

“It’s a shame that there even has to be such a thing as a

bomb-sniffing dog,” he said.