GREENFIELD — The black Lab paused, his nose eagerly wiggling directly above the small wooden box.
His handler, Todd Jordan, lifted the lid of the box the detection-K9-in-training chose. Inside, he revealed not drugs or weapons but a cell phone and an iPad.
Since 2015, Jordan Detection K9 units have assisted task forces in the investigation of child pornography and human trafficking cases occurring in central Indiana and beyond. Jordan, of Greenfield, says he’s seen significant growth in his business — which sold three dogs per year on average in previous years but in the past year tripled that number.
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Jordan, a captain on the Anderson fire department, started his handling career working with dogs that specialized in detecting accelerants during arson investigations. He later began teaching dogs to find digital contraband.
To the untrained eye, their finds seem mundane — a jump drive, an SD card, a cellphone — but that evidence has closed high-profile cases nationwide.
Bear, the first dog trained by Jordan Detection K9s, assisted in the case involving Jared Fogle, the former spokesperson for Subway sandwiches who was arrested on child pornography charges in July 2015.
Bear also helped one month later in the investigation leading to the arrest of Indianapolis gymnastics coach Marvin Sharp on counts of child molestation, sexual misconduct with a minor and child pornography.
None of Jordan’s dogs serves on a local police force, but the handler volunteers his time with local law enforcement agencies to provide the dogs on-the-job training.
His dogs’ quick success
“I really want to stick with helping the cases involving child exploitation because it’s right here at home,” Jordan said. “It’s in our own neighborhoods. It’s a real problem.”
Many of the animals Jordan trains are rescues. He selected several of his new recruits through Central Indiana Lab Rescue.
After spending time under Jordan’s instruction and care, the dogs — who just four to five months earlier had faced abandonment, starvation or being euthanized — will be ready to work alongside police officers fighting crimes against children.
Jordan has sold dogs to departments in Indiana, Michigan, California, Colorado and even Canada. Jordan has also been contacted by federal law enforcement agencies — as well as international organizations such as Operation Underground Railroad — interested in acquiring dogs he’s trained.
“That’s our mission,” Jordan said. “Rescuing labs to save children.”
Jordan maintains a close relationship with Indiana law enforcement, offering to bring the dogs along on search warrants. He freely offers this service out of a sense of public duty, but he also sees it as a chance to give the dogs real-life experience.
Chuck Harsin, president of the Indianapolis-based nonprofit, Neighborhood Electronic Detection Canine Inc., raises money to purchase detection dogs from Jordan and donate them directly to law enforcement agencies.
Harsin, who is Jordan’s father-in-law, rushed to get involved after witnessing the detection dogs’ impressive capabilities. Harsin reached out to members of his church at Neighborhood Fellowship in Indianapolis and formed an outreach ministry dedicated to providing police departments with what members see as a groundbreaking resource.
“When we found out what these animals could do and the impact they could have, we knew we had to help,” Harsin said.
Harsin has met with hundreds of law enforcement officials and educators from across the country, learning of the depth and horror within the world of internet crimes against children.
Delivering new police pups to task forces across the country significantly improves their detection capabilities while serving search warrants, Harsin said. But there’s also a powerful value in introducing a new furry friend to a group of people involved in an emotionally draining line of work.
“I know many officers who have quit or wanted to get out because dealing with this crime just destroyed them,” Harsin said. “When you see kids being abused like that day after day, mentally it just gets to you. But if you get an animal jumping in your lap, and it just lifts your spirits.”
Bear offered his nose to the team that brought ultimately brought Fogle to justice, said Darren Odier, a Federal Task Force Officer and one of the leading investigators on the case.
Several members of the Indianapolis Police Department were initially skeptical of Jordan’s detection K9s, Odier said. A dog sniffing out a hidden microchip or hard drive must have been some sort of gimmick, they thought. But after three years of working alongside these dogs on search warrants, Odier became a believer.
Now, he can’t imagine serving a search warrant without asking Jordan and his K9s to tag along.
Even thoroughly trained investigators sometimes miss evidence during a search, given the difficulty of recovering devices that can be so easily hidden, Odier said. It is not uncommon for suspects to conceal an SD card containing evidence under the carpet, within the seams of a backpack or in homemade secret compartments.
But these tricks don’t fool Jordan’s dogs.
Odier once witnessed a dog uncover evidence from a bag that two investigators had already searched.
Task forces focused on internet crimes are frequently called upon to locations that are hoarding situations, said Indiana State Trooper Cecilia Wylie. In such cases, a dog can reveal evidence in spaces a human would easily overlook.
“I always laugh and say that having extra hands is good, but having an extra nose is extremely helpful,” Wylie said with a laugh.
Wylie works on up to 40 search warrants a month on the state police department’s internet crimes task force. Searches are always easier with a detection canine by their side, she said.
Wylie served alongside Bear on the Marvin Sharp case in August 2015. Since then, she regularly requests the help of the trusty K9 companions.
“After several search warrants, the dogs clearly proved themselves,” Wylie said. “They’re a valuable asset…they’re really an extra officer.”
