A police dog in Lincoln County that’s trained to sniff out hidden electronics will be the only one of its kind in Oregon.
Trinity is a K-9 unit who has been trained to detect a chemical found in storage devices like cell phones, hard drives and SD cards. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office plans to deploy her starting this November.
Detective Anthony Bettencourt said Trinity will primarily search for devices containing child pornography, which are small and easy to disguise.
“These micro-SD cards can be hidden almost anywhere, and oftentimes could be missed in a search where we have a search warrant,” said Bettencourt. “So this will improve our ability to locate those items for the evidence that we need to bring justice for our victims.”
Nationwide, reports of online child sexual abuse rose in the years between 2014 and 2021. Locally, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department said its detectives are also seeing more cases.
Bettencourt said Trinity could also help in homicide investigations, as she's trained to detect electronic devices through walls, under shallow water and in burned vehicles.
"If we needed to find a ditched phone, or in crash where a phone may have been ejected from the vehicle, we can go out and search for that," he said.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department has raised $19,000 to obtain Trinity, the threshold it required to purchase the dog. It is seeking an additional $6,000.
Bettencourt said the dog may be the first of its kind in Oregon, and she will be available to assist partner agencies across the state. Law enforcement officials estimate that there are around 100 police dogs trained in electronic storage detection throughout the country.
Electronic property is subject to the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects against unlawful search and seizure.
