Sniffing Out Crime: Eastern Shore police canines show off different capabilities

MARYLAND. – In the age of enhanced technology, criminals who exploit children are finding new ways to hide devices filled with explicit images, where law enforcement can’t detect them.

But Worcester County canine handler, Dep. First Class Jason Burns said you can count on his dog Luna to find those devices– not with her eyes, but with her nose.

“It’s actually the glue that she can alert on,” said Burns. “Compared to the amount of glue on a phone, compared to on a sim card, or a SD card, is different, but they all produce that same odor, and that’s what she’s actually alerting on.”

And not far away in Fruitland, Boone the bloodhound is also a hard-working pup. But he doesn’t sniff out devices, he tracks down people.

“We had quite a few tracks, criminal tracks– we also had several tracks, I think we had two with a kid that had wandered off. We had a couple where we actually tracked an elderly person that had wandered off,” said Fruitland Police Department Sargent, Josh Uaculver.

Boone and his handler have been growing their bond for over a year, completing those missions and becoming staples in the community.

“We kind of do everything together,” said Uaculver.

Boone is only the bloodhound on duty on the shore and Luna is unique in her ability to track devices. Burns said these dogs are working overtime to sniff out crime.

“We’re so close to Delaware– 10, 15, 20 minutes away– and so close to the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and the corridor with Route 50. We can basically go anywhere that anybody would need us to go to,” said Burns.