By C1 Staff
NEW ORLEANS, La. — Aside from a new facility, staff with the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office also have a new defense against contraband cell phones.
WGNO reports that Dex is the department’s new crime-sniffing dog, who will assist staff in locating and removing contraband cell phones.
“We’ve developed technologies to identify cell phones on people if the cell phone is turned on, but if the cell phone is turned off, our most sophisticated technologies are helpless,” Metropolitan Crime Commission President Rafael Goyeneche said.
That’s where Dex comes in – he can detect phones even if they’re turned off, and research shoes a dog’s sense of smell is about one thousand times sharper than that of a human to boot.
Iberia Bank helped the sheriff’s department purchase Dex for over $12,000, and he’s one of only three cell phone sniffing canines in the state.