Good boys and girls this week gathered in Canberra to learn a little more about sniffing out technology. This isn’t some sort of bizarre analogy: the AFP and its ‘technology detection dogs’ learned about combatting crime in the tech era.
The AFP held a “Technology Detection Dog Symposium” aimed at developing the tech-sniffing capability on a national scale. During the symposium, the humans talked boring stuff like insights and success stories. They also chatted about how to build out the capability even further.
“Tech detection dogs are an invaluable asset to law enforcement agencies and are essential in combatting crime in a modern era where critical evidence is often stored on hidden electronic devices,” Superintendent Simon Henry said.
“These dogs are successful in improving operational outcomes, supporting AFP investigators and those from other agencies to identify potential items containing evidence at search warrants.”
The technology detection dog program kicked off in 2019. To date, the AFP said the dog squad have assisted investigations into a range of crime types, including online child sexual exploitation. The AFP added that while the dogs are utilised across a range of investigations, including counter-terrorism, drug crime and state and territory police operations, about 40 per cent are related to child protection.
Since the national rollout of technology detection dogs, the good boys and girls have located hundreds of potential evidentiary items that could otherwise have gone undetected, the AFP said.
There are currently two technology detection dogs in Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.
Not everyone is happy with the use of canines in police operations, given the treatment many have had in the past and the danger they are potentially being faced with without their consent. We hope these technology detection dogs are given all the love and support they need to carry out this work for the AFP.