NJ K-9 trained to smell for cyberstalking, child porn and more

🚨K-9 with a unique skill

🚨It's a growing field

🚨K-9 has two responsibilities

WOODBURY — Meet the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office’s newest tool: German short-haired pointer Walt.

Walt isn’t your typical K-9 — he helps find hidden electronics for the High-Tech Crime Unit.

"Almost every case we have has some level of involvement with electronic devices. Walt will be able to help us in any type of an endeavor,” Chief Detective Tom Gilbert with the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office said. Technology continues to evolve and get smaller, adding to the need for this type of K-9.

Walt’s training is similar to that of a drug-busting K-9; the training regime is to get a dog acclimated to a certain thing that if they find it, they're going to get praise from their handler.

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It’s no secret a dog’s sense of smell is better than our own, so that strength is used to sniff out chemicals involved in the manufacturing of devices that prevent them from overheating.

"There aren’t that many of these electronic detection dogs in New Jersey right now, it's a growing field. I think right now he became the fifth,” Gilbert said.

The prosecutor’s office doesn’t know if there’s a necessity to add more but is pleased with Walt’s performance so far.

Not just finding devices

Walt’s temperament qualifies him for another title: a non-profit comfort dog. Handler Detective Dan Farid helps Walt juggle life with the prosecutor’s office and the county’s Child Advocacy Center — comforting women and children victimized or witnesses of criminal activity. Other public events can use his presence, too.

"I think we all realize how that can really bring your blood pressure down to have a dog sitting next to you that cares about you and really isn't asking for anything but some attention,” Gilbert said.

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