This reminds me of the “Mexican-sniffing” dogs they have at Arizona’s southern border.
We’ve heard of dogs that can sniff out bombs and drugs, but right now there are police dogs being trained to sniff out hidden collections of child porn.
These ‘porn dogs’ are training to detect the chemical compound found in adhesives used in electronic devices like flash drives, cell phones and SD cards. Some of the dogs are being trained by the Wisconsin Department of Justice. Special Agent Joe Mech explains what those dogs can find.
“It’s a scent that as humans we would probably not even be able to detect, but dogs have a such a powerful sense of smell that they can detect literally thousands of different odors,” said Mech.
One of those dogs is named Kozac. He is one of only 30 electronic sniffing dogs in the country right now, and he is named after a Pittsburgh woman.
The Wisconsin Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force wanted to pay homage to Alicia Kozakiewicz, who survived a harrowing kidnapping 17 years ago. Kozakiewicz was lured from her home in Pittsburgh by an internet predator. He held her captive in his Virginia home for several days, torturing her.
“Alicia’s a warrior and it was an honor to name our dog after her,” said Special Agent Tami Pawlak.
Two years ago, Wisconsin passed Alicia’s Law. It gives law enforcement more power and more funding to track down internet sex predators. Kozakiewicz led the crusade.
“I’m not a police officer,” Alicia Kozakiewicz. “I can’t physically go rescue them but now there’s a dog in my name who’s doing that and that just feels incredible.”
Ummm, how exactly does a dog that sniffs around for adhesives to find SD drives “rescue” kidnapped minors?
Kozac was donated by Neighborhood K9, but money from Alicia’s Law now pays for food and vet care for Kozac. After four months of training, Kozac began working in August, So far, he’s been on eight searches and discovered five hidden electronic items missed by officers.
“A lot of these perpetrators, they hide these devices in their houses. in places they don’t want anybody to find,” Pawlak said. “People don’t know what they’re actually interested in, so they’re good at hiding it. Kozak’s able to find those devices and we are able to put them into evidence.”
That evidence, is the most important piece for these cases.
“One micro SD card can literally contain thousands of images and videos on it,” Mech said. “That could be the difference between finding evidence to arrest a perpetrator or not finding it and they end up not being arrested at all.”
The cases Kozac worked on are still being investigated. He won’t just be used on internet predator cases, but any case where electronic devices may hold key evidence.
“It’s just an incredible thing to have this dog named after me,” Kozakiewicz. “He’s going to help save lives and put so many bad people away.”
5 Responses
Ive seen this horseshit many times…they cant sniff out child porn…as was kinda noted what they can sniff out are memory cards like the tiny micro sd cards…..many people use these to hide cp and other things they dont want found easily, but that card the dog hit on could just as easily contain the latest auto upgrade for android the “porn sniffing” dog cant tell the difference
That is just what I was thinking, Mike. I guess it is possible that the dog might accidentally sniff out child porn but the SD card or hard disk drive could just as easily contain the complete SpongeBob Squarepants collection, 35,000 non-pornographic family pictures or two 70 year olds rutting like weasels — complete with model releases and VD tests.
There are more than 30 of these dogs, though. Many prisons have one now to sniff out contraband cell phones. The dog pictured here looks extra friendly, though.
That cheesehound looks like he sniffed out some dudes stash and then ate it.
Yes, he does look a bit “droopy”. He also looks like he would rather be getting a tummy rub and some dog treats than sniffing out SD cards and hard disk drives.
One of the first cases with electronics sniffing dog was Jared Fogle. Child Porn is headline grabber but they also use dogs in money laundering and other internet crimes.