FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky State Police (KSP) has a member on its team that’s the first of its kind in Kentucky, an electronic storage device detection K-9 named May.
What You Need To Know
- May is a two-year old black Labrador that’s the first storage device detection K-9 in Kentucky
- May’s handler is a detective with Kentucky State Police’s Electronic Crime Branch, which investigates cases related to child sexual abuse material online
- May sniffs out an odor from a chemical found in electronic devices with storage capabilities, which could be hidden during a search warrant
- May’s reward for finding a device is food, which is the only way she eats
“She’s goofy. She likes to grab sticks out of the yard. She loves to play with her squeaky toys. Take naps all the time,” said May’s handler, KSP Detective Leslie Strong, who is with the two-year-old Labrador 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“May is one of 51 of these canines in the U.S. right now that’s been trained by Jordan Detection K-9,” Strong said.
Located in Indianapolis, Indiana, Jordan Detection K-9 began training electronic detection K-9s in 2014. According to its website, their pilot program trained a K-9 named “Bear.” The canine detected electronic storage devices at convicted sex offender Jared Fogle’s home in July 2015, who is also a former Subway spokesman.
Strong is with KSP’s Electronic Crime Branch, which is part of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program.
“It’s investigations mostly involving child sexual abuse material online,” Strong explained.
Electronics that store data, like USB drives or cell phones, is where illegal explicit material could be hidden during a search warrant. So May has been trained to sniff out those devices.
“So the odor that May detects, it’s a specific chemical used in the manufacturing process of electronic devices that have storage capabilities. It’s unique to anything that has storage. So the remote or a key fob, something like that that doesn’t have storage, she’s not going to indicate on that,” Strong told Spectrum News 1.
May’s reward for finding a device is food, which is the only way she eats. So when not actively searching because of a warrant, Strong hides devices to feed May.
“Normally, with a pet dog you’ll on average feed them twice a day. I mix it up, though, because I don’t want her to get on a schedule where she’s used to eating at a certain time everyday,” Strong said. “Because if we have a search warrant that’s before or after her scheduled time [to eat], if she gets used to [a schedule], then that can throw her off. So I try to split it up to at least two to three feedings a day,” Strong said.
May is the first K-9 in Kentucky trained to detect electronic storage devices. KSP didn’t have to foot the bill because May was sponsored by Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.), a nonprofit that works to eradicate child sex trafficking.
“For the acquisition of the dog, and the training of the dog, and to get the handlers there and everything, we budget about $15,000 per dog,” said O.U.R.’s Director of Domestic Law Enforcement Relations JC Holt.
Holt said part of the reason O.U.R. chose to sponsor a K-9 in Kentucky is because there are many rural areas in the state.
“It’s spread out, and you have the state police that service a huge area within your state. So it just makes sense to get that resource or that tool into the hands of somewhere where it will be expanded and shared. You know, where it will benefit large groups, population, and so that’s in part why,” Holt said.
May has already proven to be an asset for the Commonwealth. Her first four search warrants with KSP were a success.
“And with each search warrant she’s found some hidden devices that had child sexual abuse material on it and allowed us to charge the perpetrators in that situation,” Strong said.
As a team, Strong and May are the only two trained to do what they do to serve all 120 counties in Kentucky. Strong said it’s a big but rewarding responsibility.
“It’s really fun. Even though it’s a lot of work, it’s fun,” Strong said.
May is also used for another purpose, as a comfort animal. Strong said this helps the team out when they are interviewing a victim.