Meet K9 Selma: CT State Police e-dog

Connecticut State Police K9 Unit Continues with “Firsts” as They Set to Graduate Electronic Storage Detection K9’s

The Connecticut State Police K9 Unit is proud to, once again, be the first in the world for having trained a specialized K9, the first Electronic Storage Detection (ESD) dog. On April 15, 2016 the second class of K9 teams, known as computer K9 teams, or ESD dogs, will graduate.

Computer K9 Teams are specially trained to locate items associated with computers and cell phones. The Connecticut State Police K9 Unit successfully trained and deployed the first Computer K9 teams into the field in 2012 when The Electronic Storage Detection dog program was started.

The State Police K9 Unit and the State of Connecticut Forensic Lab were asked to determine if a dog was capable of searching for and finding electronic storage devices. Dr. Jack Hubbal, a chemist at the Forensic Lab, was able to isolate a chemical compound, Triphenylphosphine Oxide (TPPO), which surrounds the memory board in all phones and computers. Another compound,

Hydroxycyclohexyl Phenyl Ketone (HPK), was discovered on DVD’s, CD’s and floppy disks. The K9 trainers were able to use TPPO and HPK, and initially trained two computer K9 teams. The first two computer K9 teams, Connecticut State Police Detective George Jupin and K9 “Selma” and Rhode Island State Police Detective Adam Houston and K9 “Thoreau”, successfully graduated in 2012 and are currently assigned to the Computer Crimes Unit in their respective agencies.

Since the start of the Electronic Storage Detection K9 program, the Connecticut State Police K9 Unit has received numerous requests for this training. Several agencies, including Federal, local, and state, have requested a computer K9 team for their agency.
The latest class of computer K9 teams started their training February 1, 2016 at the Connecticut State Police K9 Unit. The computer dogs spent 5 weeks at the K9 Unit for the imprintation stage of training, and on March 7, 2016 police officers from Anchorage (Alaska) PD, St. Charles County (Missouri) PD, Franklin County (Virginia) Sheriff’s Office, a trooper from the Massachusetts State Police, and a Special Agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) began training with their new K9 partners.

The computer K9 teams have completed the extensive training program, and are now certified to begin working. The computer dogs are capable of alerting to, and finding, any kind of electronic storage device including, but not limited to DVD’s, USB drives, hard drives, SD cards, and micro SD cards.

The Electronic Storage Detection K9 program has proven to be an invaluable tool for law enforcement in the searching for, and recovering secreted electronics containing evidence and information in criminal cases.

All Connecticut State Police computer dogs come from Guiding Eyes for the Blind in New York. All computer dogs in this class are Labradors.