By Morgan Miles —
Watch out, child predators! The newest member of the San Diego Internet Crimes Against Children unit is a 2-year-old black lab.
Phoebe sniffs out Triphenylphosphine Oxide, a chemical in electronics. She can sniff out devices hidden in walls, cars, under water and buried underground. She’s called an electronics detection canine. If the devices have illegal images of kids, the cops have busted the suspect.
“Her nose is key to helping put child predators away,” says Abby Black of CBS8.
On a recent raid, Phoebe sniffed at a window. The cops wondered what she was pointing at. She jumped, and they stood back and looked up and saw a video camera discreetly aimed up high.
“There was a hidden camera above the windowsill,” says officer Amber Banning. “I don’t think any one of us would have caught (it).”
Added to the Force in March, Phoebe has participated in abuse and homicide cases.
When child victims are rescued, she has a second job: comforting kids. She even lightens the day for the detectives who are weighed by the horrifying images that must review in order to process evidence.
“Detectives will get up from their desk just to take a break, and she’s right there,” says Banning. “We’re exposed daily to all of these videos and images and hearing what it has done to these families. So she’s very special in this office.”
