---
title: "Police Trained a Dog to Sniff Out Electronic Evidence"
description: "Police reportedly trained a dog to sniff out electronic storage devices, which cops claim helps them find hidden digital evidence."
date: "2020-09-23"
modified: "2020-09-23"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/police-trained-dog-sniff-electronic-evidence"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "electronics"
  - "police"
  - "the digest"
---

# Police Trained a Dog to Sniff Out Electronic Evidence

![Police reportedly trained a dog to sniff out electronic storage devices, which cops claim helps them find hidden digital evidence.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/police-trained-dog-sniff-electronic-evidence.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension\</em\>*

## Cyber Crime

State police in Minnesota say they've trained a dog to sniff out electronics that could be storing incriminating evidence.

Sota, a British Labrador trained to find small electronics like USB drives or SD cards, [according to the *Star Tribune*](<https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-s-new-police-dog-can-help-sniff-out-evidence/572471481/?refresh=true>)*.* The dog is an unusual law enforcement tool, especially in an era of bloated police budgets [spent on excessive equipment](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/deadly-military-tech-ended-police-hands>), though cops say Sota is valuable.

## Hidden Drives

It's hard to imagine a realistic scenario where one might need a dog to find electronics, but the *Star Tribune* reports that Sota has helped find hidden evidence related to financial crimes or predatory crimes committed by pedophiles at ten crime scenes.

The police department told the *Star Tribune* that Sota would be particularly useful if, for instance, a suspect was to fling away a micro SD card while fleeing police who wouldn't be able to find it on their own.

## Indiscriminate Sleuthing

Of course, Sota and any similarly-trained dogs can't tell whether a storage device would actually contain incriminating evidence.

Rather, she can merely determine that an electronic storage device, overlooked by human cops, is present.

**READ MORE:** [Minnesota's new police dog can help sniff out electronic evidence in sexual predator cases](<https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-s-new-police-dog-can-help-sniff-out-evidence/572471481/>) \[*The Star Tribune*\]

**More on police:** *[Here Are a Bunch of Photos of Cops Not Wearing Masks](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/photos-cops-not-wearing-masks>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)