8th Annual International K-9 Cop Conference

The 8th Annual International K-9 Cop Conference was held in Nashville Tennessee Sept. 18-20, 2018. The annual event was hosted by K-9 Cop Magazine and featured vendors and instructors from all sectors of the Police and Working Dog industry. Over 600 global attendees gathered to network with experts in the field and to discover new K-9 training techniques and technology.

Scent Evidence K9 exhibited as a vendor for premium human scent discriminate and electronic communication device scent detection training and services. Former FBI Forensic Canine Operations Specialist and CEO, Paul Coley, was a featured instructor for two classes and introduced attending handler teams to new ways of integrating search strategies to produce more effective missing person case results. The Day 1 workshop focused on new techniques for preserving scent articles before an event occurs and new technologies for collecting scent evidence for K9 search and forensic uses.

Scent Evidence K9 was joined by David Merrick for Day 2 for an informative Dogs and Drones presentation. Merrick is the Director of Florida State Universities Emergency Management and Homeland Security Department. Their groundbreaking UAS drone program provides aerial surveillance and disaster assessment all over the world. The FSU drone team has partnered with Scent Evidence K9 to develop a new level of K9 search integration. By integrating drone technology into the search process, K9 units can expand the search area and reduce safety hazards. Merrick and Coley had both recently teamed up to locate an FSU student who had been missing for over 4 days. The drone overwatch and reconnaissance assessed and documented the rough wooded terrain which Coley and his scent discriminate bloodhounds were searching. Read more about the Missing FSU Student Search here…

Coley and the Scent Evidence K9 Research and Development Team have created new tools to assist law enforcement K9 units in achieving the best search results in missing person cases. The Scent Preservation Kit® allows individuals to prepare for an event before they go missing by providing a way to collect and preserve their scent. Having an uncontaminated scent article ready for responders gives the K9 unit the ability to begin searching right away without a lengthy dismissal process. This increases the chances of finding the person and can dramatically reduce the time it takes to locate them. A person’s scent is like their fingerprint and can last up to 10 years when stored.

Paul and Training Manager, Trey Cash, demonstrated The SEKR®, the companies new scent evidence collection vacuum. The portable device allows responders and investigators to collect human odor from a variety of sources such as park benches, clothing, and even spent shell casings. The scent can then be used to trail a target by multiple dog teams or stored by forensic investigators for future scent matches.

We are looking forward to the next K-9 Cop and Police K-9 Magazine Conferences in 2019. For more information visit K-9 Cop Magazine here…