This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
When Chief Eric Pratt of the Salina Police Department pulled over a speeder on Friday, he was backed up by four-legged Officer Froo Froo, a veteran in the war against crime.
With the permission of the driver, the chief brought the officer, his partner in the department's Feline Unit, to the vehicle so she could sniff the exterior for any whiff of narcotics. Pratt warned the four occupants that if Officer Froo Froo meowed three times in a row, that would be a sign she had detected the odor of marijuana, cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine.
The "search" lasted about a minute before Pratt admitted he was playing an April Fool's Day prank.
The chief let the driver go with a warning.
The video, posted on Salina's Facebook page, had received 1.3 million views by Saturday afternoon.
Pratt notes that no taxpayer money was spent on the prank — he did it on his own time and paid for the fuel involved — and that the stop was legitimate because the driver was speeding.
"Last but not least," Pratt wrote on Facebook, "my sweet cat Froo Froo was not injured during this incident."