These police dogs
aren't looking for illegal drugs or explosives.
They're looking for something that most of us have on us
at all times: cellphones.
Every crime is usually touching
some sort of digital evidence.
Cellphone's ubiquitous.
Everybody has a cell phone, so it's important a lot of times
to find these devices if they are hidden or discarded.
Narrator: Detective George Jupin is the proud owner
of Selma, the first dog ever trained
to sniff for electronics.
Selma is part of a pilot program
at the Connecticut State Police Department.
The program trains dogs to find devices that store data.
Since 2012, they've trained nine dogs and they've shared
their knowledge with other police departments
so they can train their own dogs.
Selma and the other dogs in training aren't just looking
for cell phones.
They're looking for anything that might store data.
Things like thumb drives, computers, SD cards, and cameras.
Before the program existed, investigators had a hard time
finding digital evidence.
And they found as they were doing their investigations
that they were missing pieces.
They could find paperwork,
but they were missing devices that could have stored
a lot of information, and they asked if, "Is there any
chance that we can train a dog to find a thumb drive?"
I think was the first thing they asked.
A lot of the work we do is crimes against children
or child exploitation work where we're looking for devices
that have illegal content on them.
So that can range from desktop or laptop computers
to smartphones and removable devices like USB drives
or flash drives.
Narrator: In 2015, an electronic-sniffing dog
found a hidden thumb drive at Jared Fogle's house.
It ended up being a key piece of evidence in the case
against the former Subway spokesperson.
The dogs are used in other scenarios too
like counter-terrorism cases
where someone could be storing documents or plans
on a hidden thumb drive.
Or in cases of fraud where proof of fraudulent businesses
or forged documents could be found on a concealed laptop.
We got called out to a scene where the concern
was that there might be some hidden cameras
throughout the house.
Brought Selma in and we searched the house -
each floor of the house and each room in the house
and when we got into one of the bathrooms,
Selma alerted to a vent. Inside that vent, we
discovered there was a miniature camera.
Narrator: So how exactly do these dogs manage to smell
something that, to us, doesn't have much of a scent?
Humans have about 6 million
olfactory receptors in our noses.
Dogs have up to 300 million.
So, they obviously have a much better sense of smell.
To get these dogs to sniff out electronics specifically,
the K9 team sent a bunch of devices to their lab
which was able to isolate one specific scent.
The compound we use is triphenylphosphine oxide,
TPPO for short.
TPPO is a chemical that coats memory chips
to protect them from overheating.
With TPPO isolated,
handlers can train the dogs to locate devices.
All that is, is a simple food reward system.
We have the dogs smell the odor, they're rewarded with food.
Smell the odor, rewarded with food
repetitively.
Narrator: The dogs learn to associate the smell
of the chemical with being fed
and that's what motivates them to search for it.
They start out by smelling the pure chemical in a jar
so they can really master the scent.
Once a dog gets that down, they move on to real devices
to see if they can identify the smell of TPPO
when it's inside a device.
And even though all dogs have a good sense of smell,
they aren't all right for the job.
Jupin: We're looking for dogs that are methodical
in their searches, that aren't easily excitable,
that can be around a lot of people,
that can be in areas that are confined.
And the temperament of the Labradors fits that profile
and that's why we use them exclusively.
Narrator: Once the Labradors know the TPPO scent,
the real training starts.
Halligan hides devices in cars and then sets them on fire.
This is to train the dogs to identify the smell of TPPO
even if the device has been torched.
The dogs also do room searches.
So they become familiar with searching
an indoor environment.
When a dog locates a device,
it sits down to alert its handler.
The handler then asks the dog to point to it again.
And then gets more food.
Man: Show me?
That's a good boy.
Narrator: The dogs only get fed
if they've smelled TPPO first.
That way, they continue to stay motivated to find it.
Man: Good dog. That's a good boy.
Narrator: But don't worry, they do get enough food.
And they even get to have normal lives outside of work.
She comes with me to work and she comes with me back home.
I mean, she's like family.