Approximately 75 certified electronic-detection dogs are working across the country with only a few of which are currently in North Carolina.
The Carolina Beach Police Department announced they’ve added one onto their team Friday.
CBPD welcomed K9 Liberty, a two-year-old male Labrador Retriever specifically trained in detecting hidden electronics. Liberty is the department’s first electronic detection K9.
According to the CBPD’s press release, Liberty graduated from the U.S. Secret Service’s Electronic Storage Detection (ESD) K9 program at the National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI). Training and placements for this program were funded by the U.S. Secret Service.
Liberty and the other 74 dogs are capable of detecting and locating concealed electronics such as smartphones, hidden cameras, hard drives, USBs and micro-SD-cards.
Liberty will assist with search warrants, allowing for more focused, efficient and complete evidence collection, the department said.
His detection skills will be a valuable asset in investigations involving child exploitation, fraud, narcotics and other crimes where digital evidence plays a key role.