Police departments across the state now have access to a new crime fighting tool. This one is aimed at sniffing out those who prey on children.
Reptar is the newest member of BCI's Crimes Against Children Unit. The two-year-old black lab is an electronic storage detection dog specifically trained to sniff out electronics like micro SD cards, SD cards, cell phones, flash drives, laptops and more.
Reptar is used primarily to find electronics used in connection with child pornography. He has found the tiniest electronics in the biggest rooms that human law enforcement officers couldn't find.
He's only been on the job a few months, but has already been deployed across the state.
"Every time he has been deployed he has found something that we missed," said his partner BCI Special Agent Josh Rammel.
Reptar is one of only 50 dogs worldwide and two in Ohio that are trained to find electronics.
"There's a combination of chemicals that's used on every single electronic storage device," said Rammel. "He is trained to pick up on those chemicals."
Reptar found a micro SD card in a drawer with a false bottom and a flash drive inside a secret compartment in a car. Just two examples of his work in the past few months.
Reptar is mainly used to help with crimes against children but can be deployed anywhere statewide to help find electronic evidence.
