Ankeny Police Department has new K-9 to help investigate sex crimes - Des Moines Register

The Ankeny Police Department has a unsocial caller instrumentality that could beryllium a large boost for instrumentality enforcement investigating enactment crimes.

Officials astatine a quality league Thursday introduced Sandy, a three-year-old Lab and aureate retriever mix, arsenic the department's caller physics retention instrumentality K-9. Sandy is trained to observe triphenylphosphine, a chemic successful physics devices, during searches for things similar computers, hard drives, SD cards oregon phones successful cases involving kid exploitation, kid pornography and quality trafficking.

Sandy besides is simply a comfortableness canine and has been trained successful de-escalation and workplace therapy, and volition enactment with victims who are disclosing delicate information. Her spouse is Detective Kris Lindell and she lives astatine Lindell's location with 2 different dogs.

Ankeny is the archetypal metropolis successful Iowa to person an physics retention instrumentality K-9. The authorities of Iowa has three.

Sgt. Corey Schneden, spokesperson for the constabulary department, said net enactment crimes, similar trafficking and kid pornography, are connected the emergence successful Iowa. This year, the Ankeny Police Department has investigated astir 100 sexually-motivated offenses, including 12 tips astir net transgression and 2 quality trafficking cases.

The section decided to use for a assistance to screen a caller K-9 owed to the rising fig of cases, helium said.

"These cases are precise analyzable and necessitate hours of meticulous enactment by officers and the detectives who investigate," Schneden said. "Investigations into these cases instrumentality a carnal and affectional toll connected victims and their families and those who analyse these crimes."

The Ankeny City Council precocious approved an statement with Operation Underground Railroad, an anti-trafficking organization, for the physics retention K-9. Operation Underground Railroad covers the outgo of food, veterinary expenses, cogwheel and grooming done anonymous donations.

Sandy spent 2 years astatine an Indiana situation arsenic portion of a program successful which inmates bid dogs to enactment with radical with disabilities. She was past trained arsenic an physics retention K-9 astatine Jordan Detection K9 for 4 months and spent 2 weeks grooming with Lindell successful Indiana.

Sandy already has been progressive successful hunt warrants successful Ankeny. Lindell said Sandy cuts down the clip it takes to find hidden devices.

Lindell said Sandy besides is simply a large plus arsenic she brings a calming beingness to constabulary section employees and assemblage members astatine events.

"Who tin kick astir bringing their canine to work?" she said.

Schneden said the Ankeny Police Department is consenting to enactment with different agencies successful request of an physics retention dog. He said the precedence volition beryllium cases of kid exploitation, kid pornography and quality trafficking, but different cases that impact physics grounds would besides beryllium considered.

Chris Higgins covers the eastbound suburbs for the Register. Reach him at chiggins@registermedia.com oregon 515-423-5146 and follow him on Twitter @chris_higgins_.