Mobile County Sheriff's Office K-9 and sergeant educate students on internet safety, receive Smiles Behind the Shield Award
MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — A K-9 with the Mobile County Sheriff's Office and her handler have a unique approach to fighting internet crimes against children.
K-9 Estie and Sgt. Laura Grantham make up the dynamic duo. Although Estie may be a sweet, four-legged law enforcement officer known for giving out free hugs, don't let her fool you; she's got a serious job to do.
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Estie helps the Sheriff's Office track down hidden electronic storage devices that suspects try to keep out of sight.
'She finds flash drives, hard drives and SD cards,' Grantham said. 'We work mainly internet crimes against children cases.'
It's continuous training that prepares Estie and Grantham for these kinds of cases.
'365 days a year we train,' Grantham said.
'She gets a handful of kibble for every device she finds three cups a day,' Grantham said. 'And we're not doing search warrants every day and she's not able to eat that way so we find different places to play hide and seek.'
When the two of them are not working a case, they spend their time at schools in Mobile County educating students on the do's and don'ts of the internet.
'What we try to do is try to get those conversations about being safe online and the importance of being safe online and the dangers that children can face because they're online, younger and younger,' Grantham said. 'Estie is also cross-trained as a comfort dog for child abuse victims. She's a distressing dog for first responders and anybody who really wants to be around her; she's literally like a weighted blanket.'
Estie has her own collection of books, games and other goodies to keep students engaged in the important lesson.
Now, surprising a first responder for our Smiles Behind the Shield segment isn't always easy, but one way to do it is by setting up a fake interview — which is what we did.
'Surprise and congratulations,' the crowd said.
'Oh my gosh, what are you doing?' Grantham said with excitement.
Okaloosa County School Resource Officer leaves lasting impact on students, receives Smiles Behind the Shield Award
'You are a hard-working employee, you're a pleasure to work with everyday, you volunteer your time, do all the extra duties that you don't have to and we're grateful to have you and all your expertise that you bring along with your many years of service,' MCSO Chief Deputy Andrew Peak said.
'You go above and beyond, and really that is inspiring to us at CSU, and I know to your community at large,' Kay Jenkins with Columbia Southern University said.
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