KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Baxter is one of just two K9s across Florida with a very special ability: He can track down phones wherever criminals may be hiding them.
He’s been with the Kissimmee Police Department for about a year, but he’s been used on 58 different search warrants and helped arrest at least 10 people across the state.
“He’s found probably one device in each,” said Georgie Torres, Baxter’s handler and a Kissimmee Police Department Taskforce agent. “Sometimes multiple in each. Some devices are not difficult for him to find, but others were ones that we would not have found otherwise.”
Torres said the department saw a need in the area to solve cybercrimes better, especially when it comes to child pornography.
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“There were cases where we were leaving evidence behind in homes just because we were unable to locate them, devices in that nature,” Torres said.
Torres brings Baxter along on cases and lets him loose, looking for a chemical only found in electronics.
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“He’s found devices under furniture items, under trash cans, under a bucket of dirty laundry,” Torres said.
A lot of times, it’s more than just phones. Anything that holds data could pose a danger.
Baxter was named after Kissimmee police officer Matthew Baxter, who was killed in the line of duty in 2017.
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Baxter is one of just 50 dogs across the country trained like this. Training takes about six months.
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