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Committee backs bill to protect dogs trained to find hidden electronic devices
Summary
H 654 would add electronic storage device–detecting canines to the statutory protection of police dogs; ICAC Commander Lauren Lane testified that K-9 Badger helped locate devices on roughly 20 of nearly 40 search warrants deployed since last March.
Senator Ruchti told the committee that H 654 would expand the statutory definition of police dogs to include canines trained to detect electronic storage devices (ESDs) by scent. The bill would protect these dogs under statutes that prohibit the mistreatment or killing of police animals.
Commander Lauren Lane of the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force testified in support and described her partner, K-9 Badger, a three-year-old black lab trained to detect triphenylphosphine oxide (TPPO) used on circuit boards. She said that since March of the previous year Badger had been deployed on nearly 40 search warrants and that on about 20 of those deployments the dog located devices that officers had missed or suspects had hidden. Lane and other supporters urged statewide protections for ESD K-9s to assist investigations into child exploitation and related crimes. The committee recorded a do-pass recommendation for the bill; the motion in the minutes contains a typographical bill number reference (the bill is listed as H 654 earlier in the minutes).
