California DA uses special K-9 to help track down online predators

Special Electronic Detection K-9 helps the Central California District Attorney's office crack down on the rise in cybercrime.

Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward shared details with Fox News Digital and how the office's latest crime fighting dogs play an important role that will help them tackle more and more cybercrimes.

“To be honest, what do you think about doing this when my chief investigator came to me with this concept as an idea? I honestly didn't know if she was kidding. There are dogs who smell like electronics.

Ward said his office is one of 12 countries that have been awarded electronic detection dogs through the US Secret Service's National Institute of Forensic Medicine program.

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“We're so honored to be part of it,” Ward said. “We have created ourselves as a kind of leader in the field of crime against children and the white-coloured crime, but there is no mistake about that.

Tor, a two-year-old Black Labrador retriever, earns names from the Dark Web area and is used to support crimes using electronic devices such as child pornography, fraud and other web crimes.

TOR handler, TCDA crime investigator Anthony Benitez, said that the Electronic Storage Detection (ESD) K-9 began to be used around 2012, and in 2015, the ESD K-9 “Bear” and his trainer/handler Todd Jordan were heavily used with the Jordan detection K9 and called out to help Jored Fogle's investigation.

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Benitez added that their search helped them find important evidence that would be used to indict Fogle in that case.

“Todd Jordan is also a TOR trainer through his company, and since the 2015 investigation, its use has increased as more law enforcement agencies have acquired these K-9s,” explained Benitez.

Ward explained that TOR is trained to detect triphenylphosphine, a chemical used in the manufacture of almost any type of storage device, including cell phones, USB drives, microSD cards, computers, cameras and more.

“The concept isn't too far from a drug dog trained to smell drugs. We often saw dogs at airports trained to smell explosives.

Veteran Tulaire County District Attorney Tim Ward explains the importance of the new K-9 electronic detection dog, Tor. (Tulaire County District Attorney's Office)

Benitez explained that once law enforcement has already completed manual searches, such as home searches, ESD K-9s are asked to search for locations.

“As you know, small microSD cards, USB drives, or phones can be hidden in a variety of places and overlooked by law enforcement. ESD K-9s like TOR can search this location and find hidden devices,” Benitez said.

“Most people usually don't hide the device, and the hidden devices located are forensically analyzed to determine the evidentiary value. The TOR indicates the chemical TPPO that is on the device rather than the content.”

Ward added that they have always focused on crimes against children, but over the past five to eight years they have seen the emergence of white-collar crime and fraud.

“When I say fraud, you immediately start thinking about embezzlement, right? But that's not too far until you start seeing crimes like murder for financial gain,” Ward said.

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Ward said authorities see “an increase in fraud, embezzlement and complex white-collar crime cases,” and view both types of crime as “a blending with the use of electronic devices and storage devices.”

“What we're excited about, whether they're child pornography, scary images, deceptions, whether they're concealing financial records and chasing money, what we're excited about is that TOR can help law enforcement whatever crime type they're originally.”

Ward served as Tulaire County District Attorney since 2012, establishing the Crime and Trafficking Task Force against Children and Bringing the First Court Comfort Dog to Tulaire County.

Ward said the need for police K-9s like TOR is essential as crime has evolved and shares past examples.

Officials in Tulair County, California are cracking down on cybercrime. (Getty Images)

“A few years ago, I had the privilege of being part of the prosecution in the Visalia Ransacker case, which turned out to be a 'golden state killer',” he said. “And I said in the defendant’s ruling that at the time, as science and technology grew and expanded, we were seeing as science and technology grew and reduced the space that criminals could run.

“And I think that's the message here. For someone who thinks he's smarter than this dog's nose, you won't get away with it. If he's in the area, he can detect it.”

Ward said he hopes that the victims who know Toh is there will give them, and that their families will give them a sense of hope and protection.

“We are fortunate and fortunate that the Secret Service in the US has chosen us as part of this. And we will be a good steward. And we will do everything we can to make the most of him (TOR),” Ward said.

“Having a tool like TOR really helps law enforcement find hidden items like this. Finding this one item can create or break cases,” added Benitez.

Ward said his office is sending a clear message despite “a lot is happening in California right now.”

“There are so many voices and things coming out of Sacramento. Who is the voice that was removed from all of that conversation? It's the voice of the victim and the family of the victim.

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I'm sure that by using Tor, Ward can protect more people.

“In fact, someone cares about the victims, so you can send a message to families who don't have the voices coming out of Sacramento, and we're going to do everything we can to keep those criminals accountable,” he said.