A special electronic detection K-9 helps one Central -California The office of the public prosecutor raises an increase in cyber crime.
Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward shared details with Fox News Digital about how the latest crime -fighting dogs from the office will play a crucial role in helping the approach to the Growing number of cyber crime.
“I will be honest, when my lead researcher came to me with this concept as an idea, you know, what would you think about doing this? I really didn’t know if she’s joking or not. There is a dog who can smell electronics. Are you joking? But it has been an eye opening experience,” Ward remembers.
Ward said that his office was one of 12 in the country, a electronic detection dog awarded through the National Forensic Institute Program of the US Secret Service.
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The Tulare County District Attorney office introduces its very first electronic detection K-9, Tor. (Tulare County District Attorney’s Office)
“We are pretty honored to record,” said Ward. “We have formed ourselves as a kind of leader in the field of crimes against children and white borders crime. But make no mistake, Tor is here to help all our law enforcement partners throughout the province.”
Tor, a 2-year-old Black Labrador Retriever, got his name to part of the dark web and will be used to help with crimes that use electronic devices, such as child pornography, scams and other web crimes.
Tor’s Handler, TCDA-criminal researcher Anthony Benitez, said that K-9’s from Electronic Storage Detection (ESD) were used around 2012 and heavier in 2015 when ESD K-9 “Bear” and his trainer/handler Todd Jordan with Jared Fogle study.
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Benitez added that their search helped in finding important evidence that was used to prosecute Fogle in that case.
“Todd Jordan was also the trainer of Tor through his company, and since the 2015 study, its use has increased as more law enforcement agencies obtain these K-9s,” Benitez explained.
Ward explained that Tor was trained to detect a chemical, trifenyl phosphinoxide that is used in the production of almost any type of storage device, such as mobile phones, USB discs, Micro SD cards, computers and cameras.
“The concept is not too far -fetched by a dog -narcotic dog that is trained to smell narcotic. We have often seen dogs at airports that are trained to smell explosives. Well, this is a very niche, very narrow area that he has been trained to detect that chemical, and it can be in relatively small quantities,” said.
Veteran Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward explains the importance of a new K-9 electronic detection dog, Tor. (Tulare County District Attorney’s Office)
Benitez explained that ESD K-9s are called to search a location as soon as the law enforcement has already completed a manual search, such as when searching for a house.
“As you know, small microSD cards, USB discs or mobile phones can be hidden in different places and sometimes overlooked by law enforcement. An ESD K-9 such as Tor will then search this location and possibly find the hidden devices,” said Benitez.
“Most people normally do not hide their devices, and all hidden devices would be analyzed forensically to determine a evidence value. Tor would indicate the chemical TPPO on the device and not on the content.”
Ward added that they have always had a focus on crimes against children, but said that they have seen a rise of white border crime and fraud for the past five to eight years.
“When I say fraud, you immediately start thinking about eclipse, right? But it is not too far on that road until your crimes start to see a murder for financial gain,” Ward said.
Ward said that the authorities have seen an “increased number of fraud, embezzlement and complex white-collar crime cases” and that they see both crime types “merge into the area in the use of electronics and storage devices.”
“I will say argumentative, the crime of hiding the evidence, whether it is the images of child pornography, terrible things, whether they are deception and hide financial data and follow the money. What we are enthusiastic about is that Tor can help the law enforcement in whatever the original crime type,” Ward said.
Ward has served as Tulare County District Attorney Since 2012 and a crimes have developed against Children Unit and a Task Force for Human Trafficking and has brought the first Courthouse Comfort Dog to Tulare County.
Ward said that the need for police K-9s such as Tor is essential as the crime evolves, so that an example from the past shares.
Authorities in Tulare County, California, his cyber crime. (Getty Images)
“A few years ago I had the privilege of being part of the persecution of the Ransacker case of Visalia, which turned out to be the” Golden State Killer, “he said. “And I said in the condemnation of that suspect that we saw at the time, as science and technology grew and it expanded, what it will do is the space in which criminals can operate.
“And I think this is the message. For everyone who would think they are smarter than the nose of this dog, you won’t get away with it. If he is in the area, he can detect it.”
Ward said he hopes that victims know that Tor is there, will give them and their families hope and a sense of protection.
“We are lucky and happy that the American secret service has chosen us to be part of this. And we will be good stewards. And we will do everything we can to use him (TOR) well,” Ward said.
“Having a tool like Tor will help enormous law enforcement in finding hidden items like this. Finding this one item can make or break a business,” Benitez added.
Ward said despite “so much going on in California at the moment”, his office is sending a clear message.
“There are so many voices and things from Sacramento. Who is the voice that has been omitted from all that conversation? It is the voices of the victims and the families of victims. And our heart is certainly going to a family that a child has hit by crime,” said Ward.
With the use of Tor, Ward is convinced that they can protect more people.
“We can send a message to those families who do not have a voice that now comes from Sacramento that someone in fact cares about victims. And we are going to do everything we can to keep those criminals responsible,” he said.
Stepheny Price is a writer for FOX News Digital and Fox Business. She deals with topics, including missing persons, murders, national crime cases, illegal immigration and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected]
