County considers adding K-9 to task force

The Bartholomew County commissioners heard discussion about potentially investing in a Electronic Storage Detection (EDS) K-9 unit to be the newest member of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

“This is all about protecting our children,” Maj. John Martoccia of the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office said.

The main use of the K-9 would be discovering hidden devices that contain child exploitation material where a usual officer would be unable to find them. These dogs are trained specifically to smell the chemical “glue” used to hold together electronic devices: phones, tablets and even miniature thumb drives.

Jay Frederick, investigator with the Bartholomew County prosecutor’s office, said that the K-9s have a success rate of over 80% in finding these devices.

Should Bartholomew County make this investment, the K-9 would have several different uses. The dog can find any digital evidence, not just child exploitation material. According to Frederick, these dogs, unlike the usual German shepherd police dogs, are often Labradors or retrievers that double as therapy dogs used to soothe children during interviews.

Frederick also said that the K-9 would not just work in Bartholomew County, but be useful in ICAC cases throughout the region.

All ESD K-9s are specially trained at Jordan Detection Canines in Indianapolis where Jordan hand-matches the correct dog to its handler.

Commissioner Tony London, R-District 3, said that he had never heard of this type of police dog before, but that he likes the idea.

“It boggles my mind the way some people will do anything to harm a child,” London said. “I look forward to hearing more about this.”

Frederick and Martoccia said that they are looking into funds for this purchase and that they will keep the commissioners updated.