Wash. Police Force to Enlist Secret Service K-9 to Combat Child Sex Crimes

A furry, four-legged friend with a special ability to sniff out hidden electronic storage devices will join the Post Falls Police Department, the only North Idaho law enforcement agency to welcome such a detection dog.

The department was chosen to receive an electronic detection K-9 through a U.S. Secret Service National Computer Forensics Institute program. Post Falls police is the first agency in the Pacific Northwest to be awarded that type of detection dog by the federal agency, according to Post Falls Acting Police Chief Jason Mealer.

The dog will be trained to detect electronic devices, like memory cards and hard drives, that potentially store illegal materials, such as child pornography. The dog can be used in a number of investigations, but Mealer said child porn will be the most common case.

"It's a prevalent problem that we have across the United States and something we dedicate resources to, to try to prevent that and hold people accountable that do that here," Mealer said of child sex offenders. "So the dog was just one more component that we felt would be a benefit to our agency to be successful in taking these people off the street and getting good convictions by finding their evidence that they have hidden."

Post Falls police has a detective dedicated to investigating crimes exploiting children.

Det. Jeremy McMillen is assigned to the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, one of many task forces across the country dedicated to investigating and prosecuting people who use the Internet and other technology to exploit children.

McMillen's investigations spread beyond Post Falls, as he helps agencies throughout North Idaho solve child sex crimes, Mealer said.

Just like McMillen, the department's new detection dog will assist other agencies in the region, Mealer said.

Jason Cope, a Post Falls police digital forensics detective, will be the dog's handler. He said he's been in law enforcement a long time and has seen how disturbing some of the ICAC investigations can be.

"It's one of those things that just solving one of these cases makes it completely worth it," Cope said of the detection dog.

A dog has not been selected for the department, but Cope will meet and train the K-9 for a two-week period in January at the National Computer Forensics Institute in Hoover, Alabama. He will return to Post Falls, where the dog and its nose will be ready to sniff.

Mealer said they plan to introduce the dog to the mayor, City Council and community at a council meeting after Cope and the dog return from the South.

Mealer said the Secret Service will fund the dog, its training and equipment as well as the travel, lodging and other expenses for Cope while he's in Alabama. Mealer said those costs typically run about $34,000.

Mealer said Post Falls police has sent detectives, including Cope, over the years to the Alabama training center to undergo high-level computer forensic training.

Cope said that's where he noticed the benefits of the electronic detection dog. He was there in March for a roughly five-week course and spoke to an officer with an electronic detection dog with him.

With the support of Post Falls police, Cope applied for the opportunity to acquire a Secret Service dog.

"It really sounded like an interesting program that could bring a lot of good things to our area," Cope said.

Electronic detection dogs are trained to detect a chemical that keeps electronic storage devices from overheating, according to a story about the dogs on the Secret Service's website. That training keeps dogs from showing interest in electronic devices like alarm clocks, microwave ovens or lamps without a storage component.

Mealer said criminals often store memory cards and hard drives in hidden compartments in their house or car where detectives cannot easily find them. That's when the agency's highly trained dog will come into play.

"This dog allows us when we do a search warrant to be able to go through and find those devices sooner and faster," Mealer said.

Cope said detection dogs have been used to locate people in the wilderness, picking up the scent of their phone or watch that ran out of battery. One handler he met at the Alabama training center said he used his dog to locate a cellphone buried in one foot of soil in someone's backyard.

Cope used another example where a dog found a cellphone in 20 minutes after detectives investigating a homicide in another part of the country spent a week looking for it in vegetation.

Cope and Mealer said the dog could also be used as an emotional support dog for crime victims and/or officers, but Mealer said the details of how its dog will support in those areas have not been finalized.

Post Falls police has two dogs. One is a "dual-purpose" dog trained in apprehending suspects and detecting drugs, and the other is a "single-purpose" dog that only detects drugs, Mealer said.

While a dog has not been selected, Cope said it will likely be a Labrador retriever. Like most police dog handlers, Cope will take the dog home with him.

While he's never been a police dog handler, Cope said he's owned four or five Labrador retrievers throughout his life and has one now.

"I'm a lab person, anyway," he said.

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