'Remarkable' noses — new dogs in Utah corrections program can search for electronics

DRAPER — Adult Probation and Parole officer Josh Paxman was recently asked to help other agents and local law enforcement search a home.

Police suspected a man of violating the conditions of his probation by hiding a second phone somewhere in the residence. But law enforcement couldn't find it. That's when Paxman was called, and he and his K-9, "Glitch," responded even though they were 90 minutes away.

"They actually searched the house for an hour-and-a-half. They hadn't found anything incriminating. These agents believed he had a secondary phone, but they were unable to find it. Within 20 minutes of me and Glitch arriving, I was able to find two phones," he said. "They can't hide them from the dogs. I mean, the dogs' noses are remarkable."

On Wednesday, the Utah Department of Corrections and Adult Probation and Parole publicly introduced the latest additions to its staff: "Glitch" and "Cypher." Both dogs are electronic storage detection K-9s.

Cypher, a 2-year-old English yellow Labrador retriever, and Glitch, a 3-year-old Labrador retriever who also has a bit of Golden retriever in him, are trained to identify triphenylphosphine oxide, a chemical compound commonly found in circuit boards and almost all electronic storage devices.

Adult Probation and Parole currently supervises more than 15,000 people statewide who are on parole or probation. Approximately 1,700 of those people are sex offenders, the majority of whom are under tight restrictions regarding internet access and the electronic devices they're allowed to have.

When it conducts home visits with those offenders, it sometimes has to search for phones or small SD cards if a person is believed to be violating their probation.

"These dogs are such an amazing tool. Just imagine: our dogs can find two to three devices per search that law enforcement missed. That's huge," said Toni Clark, executive director of Defenders for Children.

Clark's group trains and donates dogs to law enforcement across the country. Giving Glitch and Cypher to Utah marked the first time Clark had donated two dogs at the same time to one state.

"Unfortunately, when it comes to probation and parole, some people don't seem to learn. And so, we want our dogs to go in and start reminding these sex offenders and perpetrators that, 'Hey, you need to stop going down this route, otherwise you're going to go back to prison,'" she said.

Prior to Glitch and Cypher's arrival, there were only three police K-9s in the state that were trained to find electronic devices.

Adult Probation and Parole K-9 handlers Jake Downs and Paxman traveled to Indianapolis about two months ago to train with the dogs and then take them back to Utah. Since then, both dogs have searched about 80 residences combined statewide.

"I've found dozens of phones, I've found a drone, an Apple Watch, a Smart Watch, a Gabb Watch," said Downs.

Sometimes people on probation or parole forget they have old cellphones or other electronics at home, he said. Downs recalled one of Cypher's most impressive finds was in a cluttered basement.

"He indicated on a mattress, just full of clothes and backpacks just stuffed," he said. "I went through six or seven backpacks, every single pocket. I went through a dozen jackets and hoodies, every single pocket. And finally, at the bottom, was this tiny, small Gabb Watch.

"For him to find that Gabb Watch under three dozen blankets and seven backpacks and jackets and hoodies, he did a great job."

While the K-9's primary duty will be to assist Adult Probation and Parole, Department of Corrections Commissioner Jared Garcia said the dogs can also be used to help local police agencies, the FBI and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, as well as to search for contraband — such as illegal phones being used by inmates — within the Utah State Prison itself.

"Those are extremely concerning to use because those phones, they shouldn't be there in the first place, but they are used to orchestrate violence, orchestrate criminal activity, orchestrate contraband entering our facilities, that can be weapons, that can be narcotics, that can be other cell phones which help facilitate gang activity and other violence," he said.

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