The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office has a new four-legged investigator on the job, but K9 Cooper won’t be searching for drugs or tracking suspects. His specialty is finding electronic devices that could contain critical evidence in some of the county’s most serious criminal investigations.
Cooper, an Electronics Storage Detection, or ESD, K9, is the newest member of the Sheriff’s Office High-Tech Crimes Unit. Specially trained to detect a chemical compound found in electronic components, Cooper can locate a wide variety of devices — including electronics deliberately concealed, overlooked during conventional searches or even submerged underwater.
The specialized ability can help investigators uncover cellphones, computers, tablets, digital storage devices and other electronics that may contain evidence connected to crimes against children, child exploitation, human trafficking and other serious offenses.
Cooper was awarded to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office by the United States Secret Service as part of an initiative providing specially trained electronic detection dogs to select law enforcement agencies.
El Dorado County was one of just 14 law enforcement agencies nationwide selected to receive an ESD K9. According to the Sheriff’s Office, agencies were chosen based on their work investigating crimes involving digital evidence and their continued efforts to combat online predators, child exploitation and human trafficking.
Cooper is partnered with Detective Cuddeback, his assigned handler and a member of the Sheriff’s Office High-Tech Crimes Unit. The unit investigates crimes involving digital evidence, with a particular focus on crimes against children and human trafficking.
Cooper and Cuddeback recently completed an intensive, multiweek training program with Jordan Detection K9 at the U.S. Secret Service National Computer Forensics Institute in Alabama.
Cooper was trained by Todd Jordan, a retired firefighter and investigator who was instrumental in the investigation that led to the arrest of former Subway spokesman Jared Fogle. Jordan now trains electronic detection K9s and their handlers for law enforcement agencies across the country.
Unlike traditional police K9s trained to detect narcotics, explosives or human scent, ESD dogs are trained to recognize chemical compounds associated with electronic components. That ability can be especially valuable when investigators believe a suspect has deliberately attempted to conceal digital evidence.
For Cooper, that could mean locating an electronic device tucked into an unusual hiding place, concealed among other belongings or placed somewhere investigators might otherwise have difficulty finding it.
The Sheriff’s Office said Cooper will primarily assist with investigations involving crimes against children, child exploitation and human trafficking. He can also be deployed during investigations of other serious crimes when detectives believe electronic evidence may have been hidden.
The addition gives the High-Tech Crimes Unit another specialized resource at a time when phones, computers and other electronic devices can contain important evidence in criminal investigations.
The Sheriff’s Office credited the United States Secret Service, the U.S. Secret Service Sacramento Field Office, the National Computer Forensics Institute and Jordan Detection K9 for their support in bringing Cooper and the new resource to El Dorado County.
With his training complete, Cooper is officially part of the team, putting his specialized nose to work alongside Cuddeback and other members of the High-Tech Crimes Unit to help investigators find digital evidence that might otherwise remain hidden.
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