Police Departments Are Training Dogs To Sniff Out Thumb Drives (cnet.com)

A CNET report provides some insight on an elite K-9 search class that trains dogs to sniff out electronics, including phones, hard drives and microSD cards smaller than your thumb. From the report: Only one out of every 50 dogs tested qualifies to become an electronic storage detection, or ESD, dog, says Kerry Halligan, a K-9 instructor with the Connecticut State Police. That's because it's a lot harder to detect the telltale chemical in electronics than it is to sniff out narcotics, bombs, fire accelerants or people, she says. But Labrador retrievers like Harley, with their long snouts and big muzzles, can pick up even the faintest olfactory clues. These tech-seeking dogs are helping law enforcement find child pornography stashed in hidden hard drives, uncover concealed phones, nab white-collar evidence kept on hard drives and track calls stored on SIM cards. The most famous case occurred in 2015, when a Labrador retriever named Bear found a hidden flash drive containing child pornography in the home of former Subway spokesman Jared Fogle. The district attorney called the discovery vital to Fogle's conviction.

Comments

...and track calls stored on SIM cards.

[denzacar]

These tech-seeking dogs are helping law enforcement find child pornography stashed in hidden hard drives, uncover concealed phones, nab white-collar evidence kept on hard drives and track calls stored on SIM cards.

Track calls? That's SOME nose on them dogs.

Re:...and track calls stored on SIM cards.

[spiritgreywolf]

Heck, it had me at "find child pornography stashed in hidden hard drives"! Wow! they have biologic quantum decrypting noses?

Anyone that puts stuff (illegal OR personal) on a USB stick in anything other than an encrypted volume is an idiot. Someone grabs my USB keys and they get nothing but random data bits.

Re:...and track calls stored on SIM cards.

[TheInternetGuy]

I mean you could just rely on precedence from the People Vs. O.J Simpson , and the inherent protection of the USB port.

- Prosecutor sticks drive in USB port, fumbles, turns it over , fumbles some more...
- Defense: Your Honor, members of the Jury, if the drive wont fit , you must acquit.

For those wondering how they get past the 'noise'

[Kaenneth]

They use the dogs on rooms that all visible electronics have already been removed, so only hidden electronics would be in the room.

Blind Tests Have Shown Dogs Don't Work

[Anonymous Coward]

X sniffing dogs mostly don't work. They're just probable cause on a leash. I'm not saying that dogs can't sniff some of this stuff. I'm saying most of the time, they're just used to get around the constitution by a zealous cop.

Probable Cause

[rsilvergun]

Doesn't matter what the dog sniffs. If they stick their noise in your belongings that establishes enough probable cause for a search. Might as well use a dousing rod.

Re:Marijuana dogs...

[PolygamousRanchKid]

One of the sheriffs in Illinois is arguing that if the state legalizes pot all the police dogs will have to be put down.

If Illinois legalizes pot, maybe they won't need so many sheriffs . . . and they will have to be put down.

In tests, drug dogs, handlers hit where cops think

[raymorris]

Someone did an interesting experiment. They invited police dogs, with their handlers, to an experiment. There were drugs hidden in certain places in a room. The test was explained to the cops "we want to see if your dog finds the drugs hidden under the blue bowl". The dogs all reliably signaled on the blue bowl.

The drugs were, of course, under the red bowl. The dog /handlers reliably signaled where the handler wanted them to, and not where the drugs were.

That's not to say there aren't a FEW dogs and handlers who are very good. The majority of them completely fail basic tests.

Re:In tests, drug dogs, handlers hit where cops th

[Ogive17]

I'm surprised this got a +5 interesting without any actual evidence of the study or even a link to an article.

I've been to a training academy for police dogs. I got to hide the contraband myself and the handlers were not present. All 3 dogs being trained that day had no problem locating the stash.

Can the handlers have an influence on the dog? Absolutely. That is likely poor training of the handler, though.

Here's a study and an article

[raymorris]

Here's an article:
http://bigthink.com/neurobonke...

About this similar study:
https://link.springer.com/arti...

I'm sure you can find more with about 60 seconds on Google.

Re:In tests, drug dogs, handlers hit where cops th

[Reziac]

Yes, the dogs will find actual stashes. But they'll also alert on nonexistent stashes, if they believe they should (especially if reward-trained -- then you get "offered" behavior). As the Springer link lays out: Handler expectations influence the behavior of trained dogs, and even when you =think= you're giving no cues, the dog will pick up on it.

[pro dog trainer here; doesn't surprise me in the least, especially with highly reactive breeds like German Shepherds.]