The Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) has welcomed a new member to their service — an agent, specially trained to find hidden electronic devices in order to bring predators to justice.
Except this employee isn’t a human being. Taffy is a golden retriever. She was trained at a special dog training school in Indianapolis.
Taffy will be serving with the Internet Child Exploitation unit (ICE) In her time in Saskatoon, she has already been on five missions. Staff Sgt. Tim Failler says that she is already proving her worth.
“In one of the searches I can say Taffy was able to locate a phone that we didn’t know was there, so that was very helpful,” said Failler, remarking on what he could speak about regarding Taffy’s help.
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Taffy comes at no expense to the SPS. She is part of an initiative by a not-for-profit organization called Our Rescue, an organization that utilizes rescue dogs to support law enforcement operations.”
Taffy’s handler is Det. Byron Sommacal. He says her role is to search cluttered areas quickly, in settings that might take an officer hours otherwise.
“They’re used … to make sure we don’t miss anything,” said Sommacal, referring to the dogs’ role. “Their whole role is to be a quality check in case we as humans miss something.”
Unlike many other service dogs, Taffy can be used as an emotional support animal both for victims of crime and for the police force members themselves.
“Its been excellent having her here in the office; the type of work we do is difficult work. Especially when you’re dealing with child exploitation files, so having her around the office has been pleasant for investigators,” said Failler.
Being part of the Internet Child Exploitation unit means that Taffy will not just be serving in Saskatoon, but across all of Saskatchewan.