The United States consumes more child exploitation material than any other country, and this consumption is increasing year after year. Based on our detectives’ caseloads, we are seeing a corresponding increase in our community as well. To assist our community and partner agencies in protecting our most vulnerable population, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office is seeking to establish an electronic storage detection (ESD) K9 program to supplement our K9 Unit.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office announced that they will be acquiring and deploying a Electronic Storage Detection (ESD) K9, Trinity, a black female Labrador retriever, mid-November of this year, having reached a threshold goal of $19,000 in our pursuit to raise the required $25,000 to obtain the ESD K9. We have had several partners join us in this endeavor, to include: the Knot Today Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose primary purpose is to educate, prevent, prosecute, and provide survivor support to cases of child exploitation; K9s4Cops, another 501(c)(3) nonprofit, whose mission is to help fund and assist agencies obtain much needed K9’s to augment the work we do in law enforcement.
They also thanked businesses such as Rogue and Flashbacks Fountain and Grill, both of Newport, and countless individuals who have given their time and resources to help us reach this goal. We would like to add an additional thanks to Todd Jordan of Jordan Detection K9 who assisted us in connecting with the Knot Today Foundation and made special arrangements to facilitate obtaining and training Trinity in a timely a manner.
An ESD K9 is a specially trained scent detection dog trained to smell the chemical commonly found in digital storage devices. These K9s allow detectives to cut search times exponentially and increase success in finding hidden electronics during searches. In the areas they are in service, ESD K9s have a 75% increased success rate at finding hidden devices compared to detectives alone and are responsible for hundreds of arrests. While there are approximately 120 of these K9s nationwide, there are currently none in Oregon.
The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office is still striving to reach their goal of $25,000 which will cover the entire cost of the initial deployment. If you see Trinity out and about, feel free to stop and say hello to her. You can donate directly to https://secure.k9s4cops.org/forms/lincolncounty . You can donate directly by cash or check at the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Support Services Division on the second floor of the courthouse, Or you can mail a donation to the Lincoln County Foundation: Attn: Lincoln County Sheriff Community Fund ESD K9 Program PO BOX 622 Newport, OR 97365. The Sheriff’s Office would like to thank you for helping us protect our community!
