Yesterday, the San Diego Police Department rolled out its newest recruit, and she walks on four legs. Phoebe, a 2-year-old black Labrador, is joining the city’s Internet Crimes Against Children task force. She is trained to sniff out tiny electronic storage devices that can contain illegal images or video, and she will also serve as a calming presence for child victims during interviews. Officials say the new K9 brings a specialty that can catch what digital forensics sometimes misses.
According to the San Diego Police Foundation, Phoebe Zorra is an electronic storage detection canine that can locate hard drives, flash drives, SD cards, and cell phones, and she will support the SD-ICAC Task Force. The foundation’s K9 program has funded a series of specialty dogs for the department, backing niche roles that standard police units cannot easily fill.
How the dogs find hidden evidence
These electronic-scent detection dogs are trained to recognize a chemical coating used in electronics manufacturing, triphenylphosphine oxide, which lets them pinpoint tiny storage media that humans can miss. 10News reported that trainers routinely hide media during practice and credited the technique with locating devices that had been missed in earlier searches. Handlers say the dogs’ finds can provide the missing piece investigators need to move a case forward.
Where she will be deployed
San Diego police say Phoebe will join ICAC investigations and accompany detectives on search-warrant executions, helping locate storage devices during sweeps and offering comfort to traumatized children, as reported by CBS 8. Investigators note that finding a single phone or memory card can reveal networks of offending and supply critical evidence for prosecutions.
Funding and training partners
The department’s K9 program is largely supported by community donations through the San Diego Police Foundation, which helps buy and place specialty dogs. Some electronic-storage detection teams are trained through national programs and partnerships; the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office recently noted placements that included training from the U.S. Secret Service’s National Computer Forensics Institute.
What this means for investigations
The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force program coordinates local, state, and federal partners that investigate technology-facilitated child exploitation. In FY 2024, ICAC task forces helped conduct roughly 203,467 investigations and more than 12,600 arrests, per the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Evidence located by an electronic storage detection K9 is still processed by digital forensics and can be central to charging decisions and victim rescue efforts…