Meriden, CT. (April 15, 2016): Five Labrador retrievers and their law enforcement handlers have graduated from the Electronic Storage Detection (ESD) class, with all training provided by the Connecticut State Police K9 Unit.  This class of five graduated in a ceremony at the Connecticut State Police Training Academy, the second class of K9 teams known as computer K9 teams, or ESD dogs.

The Connecticut State Police K9 Unit is the first in the world to train specialized K-9s in detection ofESDs. The computer K9 Teams are specially trained to locate items associated with computers and cell phones. The first two computer K9 teams, CSP Detective George Jupin and K9 “Selma” and Rhode Island State Police Detective Adam Houston and K9 “Thoreau,” successfully graduated in 2012 and are currently assigned to the Computer Crimes Unit in their respective agencies.

A chemist at the State of Connecticut Forensic Laboratory, Dr. Jack Hubbal, isolated a chemical compound, Triphenylphosphine Oxide (TPPO), which surrounds memory boards in all phones and computers. Another compound, Aydroxycyclohexyl Phenyl Ketone (HPK), was discovered on DVD’s, CD’s and floppy disks. The K9 trainers used TPPO and HPK to train computer K9 teams to search and find ESD’s. CSP K9 Unit has received numerous inquiries from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies since the ESD program was initiated.

The latest class of computer K9 teams started their instruction on February 1, 2016, at the CSP K9 Unit. The computer dogs spent five weeks at the K9 Unit for the imprintation stage of training, and on March 7, 2016, began working with their new K9 partners. Now certified, the computer dogs are capable of alerting to and finding any type of electronic storage device including, but not limited to, DVD’s, USB drives, hard drives, SD cards, and micro SD cards.