Tuesday, June 25, 2024–11:12 a.m.
-David Crowder, WRGA News-
The Floyd County Police Department could soon have a new tool to help them investigate crimes against children.
Floyd County Police Chief Mark Wallace recently told the county’s public safety committee the department would like to seek a grant through a private 501c3 organization called “Defenders for Children” for an electronics detection K9.
“The basic premise for this type of K9 is to locate SD cards, hidden cameras, burner phones, thumb drives, and things like that can be used in internet crimes against children cases, and child porn cases,” Wallace said. “On average, during a search, there are two devices missed per search that could be found using this type of K9.”
The grant is for $23,000 and covers the cost of the dog, training, and other expenses. Wallace told the committee they already have a vehicle available and there would be very little ongoing costs.
“The only ongoing expenses would be food, obviously, and vet care,” he said. “It will be just like the rest of our K9 population, the primary vet care would be provided pro bono by Mt. Berry Animal Clinic. Then there is an annual training that would take place. It may be in Indiana, but they are trying to get a location closer to Georgia.”
According to Wallace, the training setup for an electronics detection dog is different than that for apprehension, drug detection, and bomb detection dogs.
“Part of the rewards system for the electronics detection dog is by feeding,” he said. “So, there has to be some training almost daily but it doesn’t take up an entire day one day a week. It’s going to be somewhat less. There would be an investigator that would handle this dog, and that particular investigator would be assigned to internet crimes against children and other crimes against children.”
Wallace added the dog could also assist in the detection of illegal cell phones that have been smuggled into the Floyd County Prison.
The only other departments in Georgia that have an electronics detection dog are Hall County, Gilmer County, and Murray County with Cobb County in the process of the getting one.