March 20, 2025 • 28 mins
Detective Keith Compton introduces K9 Lacey, Allen Police Department's dual-purpose canine trained to detect hidden electronic storage devices and provide emotional support to trauma victims. Lacey's specialized skills make her one of only three electronic detection K-9s in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, capable of finding devices as small as micro SD cards that human investigators might miss.
• K-9 Lacey requires daily training with food rewards only given when she successfully detects electronic devices
• Trained to detect TPPO, a chemical compound found in 99% of electronic storage devices
• Already assisted in an FBI case where she found a hidden phone investigators had missed
• Senses handler stress and switches automatically to emotional support mode
• Works with child victims to provide comfort during difficult forensic interviews
• Selected through a competitive Secret Service program with only 12 handlers chosen from 600 applicants
• Improves morale in the Criminal Investigations Division by providing mental breaks for detectives
If you have more questions about upcoming events, check out our website allenpolice.org and follow us on our social pages. Make sure to like and subscribe, and if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (00:01):
Welcome back to another episode of Allen
Police.
Behind the Badge, we're yourhosts, officer Sam Ripamanti and
Alexus Birmingham.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (00:08):
And today our guest is Detective
Keith Compton and our specialguest K9 Lacey.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (00:14):
Hey, thanks for coming on.
Keith, Thanks for having us Allright, K9 Lacey.
If I'm not mistaken, she's theonly female K-9 we have in the
police department.
Keith Compton (00:22):
That is correct.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (00:23):
All right, what does she?
Keith Compton (00:23):
do.
She's a dual purpose canine.
She her main purpose is goingto be to detect electronic
storage devices that arepossibly hidden inside of homes,
vehicles, outside, and she'salso a um a therapy dog for
children that are are victims ofthe crimes that we encounter.
Outreach Coordinator Alexu (00:42):
When did you get Lacey?
I know she's pretty new to ourdepartment.
Keith Compton (00:45):
We started the first Sunday in January.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (00:49):
Wow .
Keith Compton (00:50):
So we trained together at the National
Computer Forensic Institute,which is the Secret Services
training facility in Hoover,alabama, and we were together
for two straight weeks, everyday, every moment of the day.
Outreach Coordinator Alexu (01:03):
When did they start training her?
Did she start training as apuppy?
Keith Compton (01:07):
So she started her training six months ago for
electronic storage detection andit's by a company that the
Secret Service contracted with,jordan Canine Detection, and he
was our master trainer thatbasically trained us on her.
The canines we got were.
They're good to go, they'retrained, they know what they're
doing.
It's on us to figure out how towork with them.
(01:29):
So we have to build our levelup to theirs, which is just
constant training all the timeso we can work together as a
team.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (01:36):
How often do you train with her?
Keith Compton (01:37):
Every day.
So she is what we consider foodreward, and so the only time
she does eat is whenever she'sdetecting electronic devices.
And so three to four times aday we will have a room that we
get, or possibly hallway outside, and we just put electronic
devices.
I'll have them put in there byother people so they can hide
them from me, so I don't evenknow where they're at.
(01:57):
So when we walk in there we,you know, we go to work, and
whenever she detects onelectronic device she gets
rewarded for it.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (02:08):
I'm assuming that's what triggers
her to know it's time to go towork.
Keith Compton (02:10):
When you put the food belt on, yeah, when she
sees the food pouch come on,that's her first indicator and
she starts getting excited.
She knows we're going somewhereto do something.
And then, when we get there,there are commands that I'll
give her, and it's putting herinto that mode.
I don't want to say thecommands right now because she
might start getting excited Forthose who can't see.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (02:26):
she's nice and calm right now taking a
nap.
Keith Compton (02:28):
She hasn't been calm all morning.
So right now we work thismorning outside in front of the
police department and I hadprobably about five mobile
devices that I scatteredthroughout the area.
So our goal when we get to anoutdoor area is to get downwind
of that scent.
So our goal when we get to anoutdoor area is to get downwind
of that scent.
So she's trained to detect thescent that is on about 99% of
(02:49):
electronic storage devicestablets, hard drives, cell
phones.
It's a heat resistant shieldand it has a long chemical name
but we go by TPPO, so that iswhat she is trained to detect on
.
So when we're outside and we'redownwind, she definitely gets
that odor and she will just go.
And that's usually when I use aretractable leash that's about
(03:11):
30 feet long, because she ishigh drive, so she's going
towards those devices and whenshe locates she'll show it to me
and a lot of times she'll tapit with her paw and then she
gets rewarded on those things.
Oh, she gets excited, getsexcited.
So this morning we worked andthis is what happens to her
after we work, because herworking like that and that drive
being up, she'll stay on thedrive for probably 15 minutes
after we're working.
(03:32):
It's the equivalent of usrunning a 5K.
So whenever she's done andshe's calmed down, she'll sleep
and recover.
Outreach Coordinator Alexu (03:40):
It's pretty interesting to see how
she turns it on and off.
She's in a room around camerasand electronics and she's super
calm.
Keith Compton (03:47):
She's not in work mode right now.
Yeah, Pretty neat.
Yeah, If I put her in work modeshe would go crazy in here.
Outreach Coordinator Alexu (03:52):
Yeah , do you have any interesting
stories that you can share withus?
Keith Compton (03:57):
We have one.
So far we've gone out on threesearch warrants.
Our job mainly on searchwarrants is to come in once an
initial search has been done forelectronic devices and see if
maybe we've missed something.
If the investigators havemissed something, it's our job
to try to find something.
So last week we helped the FBIwith a search warrant.
It was a dark web narcoticscase and they did their initial
(04:20):
and secondary searches and thenwe came in.
In the first room we came inthere were electronic devices
that they had found and theirinstructor just leave them there
.
She's going to come in, she'sgoing to detect on those devices
and she gets rewarded for those.
But there was one particulararea of the room that she was
very focused on.
There was a closet next to thebed and there were a pile of
(04:41):
clothes at the bottom.
Well, she's got severaldifferent indicators for me to
let me know.
She's onto the odor, um, one ofthose being she's diving that
nose into that area and then shedoes what's called a blowout
with her nose.
It'll just blow out, and sothat's what I'm listening for,
and so at that point I have a uh, fbi agent with me and I'm like
hey, focus in that area.
She's really interested in that.
(05:01):
So we went upstairs to run acouple of other rooms and when I
came back downstairs they letme know that, hey, we found a
phone in there and that's thephone they were looking for.
That's wild.
We were able to help them out,so we may have missed it if we
didn't have her.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (05:15):
That's pretty awesome.
So so do you get that realexcited high pitch voice when
she does something good?
Oh, like that Absolutely.
Keith Compton (05:22):
Oh yeah, training is a little different.
I have to work on that.
But when she does it in thefield, oh yeah I get real
excited.
It's fun to see, I got to seethis.
So I mean you're also.
I mean you're looking at thepressure.
You know it's different goingout with our detectives from the
CAC, but now you that are outthere and TFOs that are with
them, so it's a little nervous.
(05:43):
But it's like whenever you seethat she has found something
that they missed, oh it'sawesome.
I mean it's cool.
Outreach Coordinator Alexu (05:55):
Yeah , you did mention she was an
emotional support dog as well.
I know that she can detect whenyou're on these search warrants
or when you're doing this andyou get stressed.
Can she sense that as well,because I feel like you've told
me.
Can she sense that as well?
Or how do?
Because I I feel like you toldme a story.
Keith Compton (06:05):
It's yes so day one they told us that your
emotions and feelings go downthe leash.
If you're having a bad day,they're gonna know it.
So they're not gonna work thatday because they're only focused
.
That point is hey, the personI'm bonded with over here is is
having issues, whatever it maybe.
So she almost just goes intothat mode, to where she's like,
(06:26):
hey, I need to make him betterbefore I can work.
And I didn't see it.
You know, for a few days We'dhad three really good days of
training.
I mean, she was on point, shewas finding everything, and then
we did vehicle searches and,mind you, this is the first time
that Homeland Security andSecret Services put this program
on, and Every day we had peoplefilming us and we had agents
(06:49):
out there taking picturesbecause you know, this is a big
thing for them, and so there's alot of pressure that goes into
that.
Well, for her to get under avehicle to start looking for,
say, an air tag or a tracker oranything else that's under there
, I've got to get down there toto let her know hey, it's OK,
you know, you're good, I'm withyou, we're going to be safe when
she has that trust and she'lldig, you know, further into
(07:10):
there.
On this day I'm trying to get upunder there and I'm stressed.
And I didn't realize it she didbecause all she wanted to do is
is jump on top of me and startlicking me.
My food pouch is open.
I got food everywhere and it'sjust like it's just not working.
But she knew that, she knew Iwas stressed and so she's like,
hey, we're not working right now, let's just get you better.
So I came up from underneaththe car and one of the secret
(07:33):
service agents was there andhe's like, yep, that's on video.
I was like awesome.
So but yeah, they, theydefinitely can.
They, they can, they can sensewhen someone's, you know,
stressed out about something or,you know, scared.
So her purpose is say thatwe're doing a forensic interview
on a child that's been a victimof, you know, one of these
crimes.
We can bring her in and, youknow, try to let her calm that
(07:55):
child down to get through thatvery difficult interview for
them.
Also, if we're on a searchwarrant that you know, possibly
we have kids there and they'renot understanding why a bunch of
police officers are in thereand they're scared, I can bring
her in, let you know, let herjust go with them and just calm
them down as well, so she's ableto do both of those.
Outreach Coordinator Alexu (08:13):
Well , that's great.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (08:13):
That's awesome, and I'm sure the foot
traffic in your office hastripled volume since January.
Keith Compton (08:22):
Yes, she gets many visitors a day and every
time someone comes in she's gota little tug of war toy.
She'll bring it to you and it'stime.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (08:31):
She's like let's play.
We've had some tug of war inthe last week or two.
She's a strong girl.
Yes, she is.
But I could see you know youtalk about the peer support side
.
I could see you know if ourofficers are having a rough day
and they come by and you know,come see Lacey and that could
help out out and you know, oh,I've relaxed.
Keith Compton (08:50):
I've seen the difference in just the three
weeks we've been back.
Um, sometimes she's, so she hadto get used to our place first.
So the first week she was kindof on a leash because people
would come in if she getsstartled.
You know she like barks she'snot normally a barker, but she
gets startled and so after abouta week she started getting used
to the place, the people, andso now she's kind of venturing
out a little bit more and I meanit's, it's good for our
(09:11):
detectives.
She goes out and you knowshe'll bring the tug of war and
it's like they'll play tug ofwar for 10, 15 minutes.
That's 10, 15 minutes.
The detectives can get awayfrom what they're doing and just
relax for a sec, take a break,mental break, yeah, and you can
see that that the morale in CIDhas gone up.
That's awesome.
I've become the forgotten one.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (09:31):
It's like look, it's Lacey, never me,
and the guy that walks her andthe guy that walks her.
Outreach Coordinator Alexu (09:36):
Does she go home with you every day?
Officer Sam Rippamonti (09:37):
Yes, yes , she lives in the house.
Yes, absolutely Not an outsidedog.
Keith Compton (09:41):
No, she's not.
She's a princess.
She likes playing outdoors, butno, when, when it's bedtime,
she's curled up on a couch andshe's like I'm out, that's
awesome.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (09:50):
How does she do with throw pillows?
Keith Compton (09:53):
Well, it was good until this week.
And then she I left the houseI'm trying to trust her a little
more and more and I left herfor an hour to go to the grocery
store and I came back and anice decorative pillow was
ripped apart and she just hadthe most guilty look on her face
.
She knew she was in trouble.
Yeah, as a matter of fact, Ithink she was trying to go for
one of these pillows before westarted today I was like no, we
(10:14):
can't do that.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (10:15):
Got a thing for throw pillows, yes, so
moving forward, what's thefuture look like for Lacey?
Like getting her involved inmore of these warrants?
Keith Compton (10:28):
and different type of calls.
We did a first of all with ourcurrent investigators assigned
to the CAC.
There's four of them.
They're going to keep us busy,which is good.
We need the real world reps onthose.
But I also went down to the FBIoffice in Frisco yesterday.
We have a task force officerdown there and they were very
interested in seeing her work.
So I went down there and we dida demo with them and they have
(10:52):
a couple of individuals, acouple of agents that are
assigned to ICAC task force,which is crimes against children
, and they were asking hey,would she be available to come
out on warrants?
And I said absolutely.
I said the more warrants youcan give us, the better, because
the more we can get out thereand work like that and not a
training environment, it's goingto help us in the long run.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (11:10):
Are there many canines like Lacey
out there?
Keith Compton (11:13):
So the company that did this, todd Jordan.
He's got, I think,approximately 185 worldwide.
I believe she is number 175.
She's only the third one in theDallas-Fort Worth area.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (11:26):
So there's only three in this area.
Keith Compton (11:27):
So if I demand for her, yes, absolutely Until
recently there had only been one.
Dallas PD has a canine that'sESD, and the Collin County
Sheriff's Office got one shortlybefore I left.
So now there's three of us inthis area.
Y'all do joint work.
We haven't yet, just becausewe're still trying to get our
(11:47):
situation settled in.
But the great thing about thatis the Dallas PD dog and the
Collin County Sheriff's Officedog all come from the same
trainer, so when we get togetherwe're trained the same way.
That's good, doing the samething.
So that definitely is going tobe a help.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (12:02):
And the temperament of this breed, they
probably all get along fine.
Keith Compton (12:08):
We had all labs in our, our class.
There were 12 of us and, yeah,at the beginning of the morning
they all went to play with eachother and they're just like, oh
my god, hey, what's going on?
But what we would typically dofor training is we would get a
hotel room, we'd get three ofthose and people had checked out
and we'd hit different oneseach day.
Well, they're hiding devices inthere for us to go up and run
those.
You know, know those rooms, andso we would, you know, go to a
(12:30):
room, work that, come down,maybe rest for 15, 20 minutes,
as we're all rotating through by1130, it's, it's, you know
we're.
We're breaking for lunch andwe're doing a debrief and you
look around the room and they'reall passed out.
I mean, they're just all sotired from from working.
So, and it was, it was justfunny to see.
It's like you couldn't see adog that was even up.
They were just all sleepinglike this.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (12:51):
That's awesome.
So you said something earlierabout crawling under cars if
you're looking for a tracker andyou said air tag.
Now, an air tag is tiny, mm-hmm, but it still has that odor, so
she can smell something assmall as an air tag.
Keith Compton (13:06):
She can smell something as small as a micro SD
card.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (13:09):
Wow .
Officer Sam Rippamonti (13:11):
Oh, as an air tank, she can smell
something as small as a micro SDcard.
Keith Compton (13:12):
Wow, oh yeah, that's like what goes in a cell
phone.
Yes, she can detect on those.
So yes, so she sniffs through,like walls, like how, if the
odor is strong enough to becoming towards her?
Yes, she can detect it.
Now there's a lot of variablesthat go into it.
You've got more airflow thananything.
So is the device here?
But the way the air is comingthrough this room, is it pushing
(13:32):
it to this side of the room?
So she may be sensing it overhere.
It's not strong.
So she's looking for thestrongest part of that odor.
So she may be sensing it overthere and it's kind of confusing
her.
She's like I know it's got tobe around here but it's not that
strong.
So sometimes we'll come backaround, we'll work it again and
if, if two times through, she'ssensing something but not on it,
(13:53):
we may work her opposite way.
And I found that working herthat opposite direction, that's
when she'll pick up on it.
So it's there's a lot of thingsthat just go into it.
I found out real quickly ourbuilding's not great for
training just because we have somany computers, hard drives and
things like that.
So it's finding areas thatdon't have all of that in there.
So the biggest challenge so farhas been able to reach out and
(14:13):
figure out where we can train.
So we've we've done pretty good, we've got, you know, the
courts.
We've been able to work.
City hall's got a couple offloors, the fire departments.
We're going to start workingwith them and just going through
the different apartments.
And during the summertime I'vespoken with the SROs and we
could definitely get in thereand start working on some of
those rooms.
So but that's the biggestchallenge for us because if
(14:33):
we're not changing it up, thenshe starts to become either
complacent with it or she knowswhere devices have been hidden
in this area before.
Having to learn is okay.
She's really starting to use it.
She's so smart that sheremembers where devices are.
Sometimes we're just walkingthe hallway.
We've worked that area.
She'll go to the plant wherethere was a USB drive in there
(14:56):
and she's either trying to sniffon it.
So that's that's.
Our biggest challenge is just tomake sure we keep, you know,
changing it up, and that's alsopart of our training.
We don't feed at the same timeevery day.
We don't, you know, we don't goto the same locations.
It has to be different for her.
You have to keep her, you know,ready to go at any time.
And that's also, you know,towards search warrants.
We don't know exactly when thesearch warrant's going to go or
when we're going to get broughtin.
(15:17):
So I don't, you know, can't gether fixated on.
Hey, it's around 830.
I usually get fed around nowbecause then you can start
falling into false alerts andthings like that.
So we just keep it differentevery day with her.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (15:27):
So how did you get the opportunity
to become a canine handler?
Keith Compton (15:31):
Well, this goes all the way back to being a
digital forensic examiner fulltime.
I started digital forensicsback in 2012 when I was in
narcotics, and that justconsisted basically of very
small devices, mobile devices.
We didn't even need searchwarrants then.
So as a narcotic investigator,we would do a search warrant and
(15:52):
the rest of the investigatorsare doing the search and
interviews.
I'm over there with what it's aCellbrite, ufed Touch One and
I'm hooking this into a thumbdrive and I'm just taking the
call logs and text messages fromthese devices, from these
devices.
Fast forward to four years agowhen I finally became a
(16:12):
full-time digital forensicexaminer.
I've been going to NCFI forprobably eight, nine years now
and the reason we continue to godown there is the courses that
are offered by Secret Serviceare completely paid for.
The per diem, the travel, thehotel, everything is paid for by
them, and in some of theintermediate and advanced
classes in forensics, we'reactually returning with a lot of
equipment.
Some classes we're bringing$30,000, $40,000 worth of
(16:35):
equipment back, and thatequipment is laptops.
It could be equipment to fix adevice, a mobile device, or to
basically you know we used tocall it a JTAG chip off of a
device if we couldn't get thepasscode.
So we're getting all of thattraining.
Well, for years they've beenwanting to implement an ESD
canine program.
(16:55):
So finally this, this last year, they were able to get it
approved by Homeland Securityand Secret Service and we were
the first class to get to go doit.
Since and as a matter of factit was it was curious the
question got asked on, like thelast day how were we chosen?
There were 12 of us total and Ibelieve there were 600
applicants.
So the question was asked howwere we chosen to be handlers?
(17:21):
And the, the trainingcoordinator, her name's Anna
Holloway.
She's a agent down there.
She said these are my biggestproducers as far as we enter our
any, any device we touch mobiledevices, computers, whatever it
may be.
If we process it, we enter thatinto um, a system called FPR,
and that's the stats that theSecret Service uses to go to
(17:42):
Congress to get their budget.
So they look at that.
When determining whether we getsome of these more advanced
classes is are you producing,are you taking the knowledge
we're giving you and using it inyour field?
And so the 12 of us, we're someof the biggest producers and
we're some of the most dependentones, because we've never had
any issues taking any of thosecourses down there.
(18:03):
We're always engaged, we'realways just willing to learn, so
that's how she chose us.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (18:08):
So every dog that was there?
Were they like electronic andalso emotional support, or was
it just no?
Keith Compton (18:16):
that's.
That's how Todd Jordan trainshis canines is.
So her story and most of thestories from from the canines is
they didn't start out with ToddJordan learning electronic
Mm-hmm, a nonprofit that,basically, obedient, trains
canines to work with kids withdisabilities.
Well, her drive is so high thatthey saw that that probably may
(18:49):
not be a good fit for that.
So then Todd Jordan the trainer, he gets her and he sees that
you know her drive is perfectfor what she's doing now it's.
This is just what she's meantto do and sometimes, you know
dogs have to.
You know they have a purpose.
We just have to find out whatpurpose it is for them and she
absolutely loves this.
I mean, when she's ready, whenwe go to work, she is excited
(19:13):
and she just loves it.
I mean it's a challenge for her.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (19:16):
And she loves it.
But your daily steps have gonethrough.
Oh my goodness.
Keith Compton (19:20):
I've climbed those stairs more times in the
last three weeks than I have myentire career.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (19:24):
Do you guys visit the schools?
Have you taken her?
Not yet.
Keith Compton (19:27):
So this is all you know.
We're progressing with this.
We've done a few demos forpeople.
We're getting the word out thatyou know this is who we are,
this is what we can do, but I'vealso got to balance.
What my full-time job is is adigital forensic examiner.
My full-time job is is adigital forensic examiner, and
when I say that it's myself andone other individual, detective
(19:48):
Forcan.
We are full-time examiners.
Last year we processed over 450devices, so that in and of
itself, is a full-time job.
So this is finding the balancebetween that and using her.
But she's so valuable as a toolfor us in the you know, crimes
against children world that Icouldn't pass that opportunity
up.
I mean, we we have enough casesthat she is definitely going to
(20:09):
do some good for us and it'sit's valuable, and so I'm
willing to make the sacrificeand try to figure out how to
balance them.
I will.
When I was in narcotics, I wascarrying 280 cases a year and I
was processing over 250 devicesa year, so it's a lot of work,
but at the same time, they wereboth important to me, so I'll
find out a way to make this workas well.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (20:30):
You definitely found your passion.
Yes, Cause this you know.
When you first started the cellphone thing, being able to get
into these devices, I rememberit just kind of started growing
and all these agencies startedreaching out Cause I'm.
Yes, Detective Compton is thebest he can do it.
I don't know if I'm the best.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (20:48):
I'm just proficient.
Keith Compton (20:50):
No, I enjoy helping other agencies out.
I mean, I was on SWAT for 15years.
I was on narcotics for 10 years.
That was fun, I loved it, itwas great.
But this transition's been nice.
It really has.
There's nothing better thangoing to court and testifying on
what's on someone's device.
When it was passcode protected,they're like how did they get
(21:13):
that information?
I mean, it's just the look intheir eyes like I can't believe
Apple says this thing.
You can't break into it.
Well, we have our ways.
But that's fun.
It's fun to see it.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (21:23):
I've known you for a long time.
Yes, you know, 18 years.
This May is how long I've knownyou and to see how you've
changed from when I started herein 07, he was the guy.
If I saw him in the hallway Iwas.
He was intimidating because hejust always had this look on his
face.
I was not intimidating, don'ttalk to me, I, he had this look
on his face.
It's not intimidating.
Don't talk to me.
I was not like that.
(21:43):
Not Compton.
Now see, I don't know if it'syou.
This is the sweetest guy ever.
Thank you, oh, come on, youdidn't know early on.
Compton, no, he's a really niceguy.
He just had the look and I wasthe young guy you know, so
stayed in my lane, but now hehas something to do with it too.
Oh, definitely, he is a wholedifferent person.
He's the happiest I've everseen him.
(22:04):
He's smiling all the time andit seems like you really enjoy
what you're doing.
Oh, absolutely.
Keith Compton (22:12):
Absolutely.
She makes it easy.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (22:15):
She does , so how is she with Mrs Compton
?
Keith Compton (22:19):
That was an adjustment.
It's like having a baby itself.
So I drove to NCFI for this andthe day we left we drove back.
It was about 10 hours becausewe had to stop a few more times
and I've told her how great sheis and how obedient she is, and
I mean I'm just propping her up.
As soon as we got in the housethe zoomies hit her and she went
crazy.
(22:40):
No command I would give herwould make her stop.
I just had to let it out andshe just looked at me.
It was like, really, this isthat well-trained dog.
I was like she is.
You just have to see it.
She's just excited, so now it'sbeen an adjustment, but she
loves her yeah, yeah and uh.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (22:55):
So you have a partner at work.
You mentioned him earlier, sean.
Keith Compton (22:59):
He's kind of ocd kind of yeah, a little bit,
let's touch.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (23:03):
If you're listening, sean, I mean I
thought I was.
Keith Compton (23:04):
OCD until I met him, which is good.
I mean, our office is squaredaway.
It's always organized, a littleover-organized from time to
time.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (23:12):
But yeah , how's he doing with the
shedding?
He's got better A little bityeah.
Keith Compton (23:18):
So I mean we try to make it as clean as possible
in there, because we do have alot of expensive forensic
equipment.
Who runs the vacuum?
I do?
I figured yeah.
But yeah, we keep it as cleanas possible because I mean we
don't want our very expensiveforensic workstations to get
cluttered up.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (23:35):
I mean Y'all's office is very neat and
clean.
Yes, so we're constantlycleaning.
It's like a gamer's paradise inthere.
It really is.
It's like a gamer's paradise inthere.
There's computers everywhere,big monitors.
Keith Compton (23:45):
Oh yeah, we have fun with it.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (23:47):
How does she benefit the city of
Allen?
Keith Compton (23:53):
How she benefits.
The city of Allen, like I said,is going to be working with our
investigators at the CAC.
The cases that they investigateare tough, they really are, and
between one us possibly findingevidence that's going to put
someone that's really bad awayfor a long time is valuable.
And also they're to supportthese kids, because I think a
lot of times that gets thatdoesn't get noticed enough that
(24:17):
this is going to affect thisperson for the rest of their
life, absolutely.
I mean that's.
There are a lot of victims of alot of the crimes we
investigate, but this is the onetrue one that will affect
someone for the rest of theirlife.
And if we can be a positiveinfluence at any point during
our interaction with them,whether it's during the
(24:38):
investigation, the interview,whatever it may be, then that
means everything, because theymay not have a lot of positive
things to look forward toimmediately because you know
they're they're trying to getthrough a very traumatic
experience.
But if we can be positive atany point, then that's worth it.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus B (24:54):
I think she's also very great for
not only our community but inAllen, but we're also able to
work with other agencies andhelp out our partnering cities.
You know as well and it's verybeneficial.
Keith Compton (25:07):
Absolutely.
My goal in digital forensicswas if I can help you, I will.
If I've got access to somethingthat you don't and it's going
to help you build your case,then bring it over.
We're all on one team, that'sthe thing.
It doesn't matter what agencywe're with.
If I can help you out with yourcase, then let's help you.
(25:29):
It's going to be the same withher.
I'm starting to get the wordout to other agencies, because
there are other agencies thathave investigators with the CAC
or investigating child crimecases.
If we can help you out in anyway, let us, if that's to, come
over and let someone you knowpet her and get through a very
tough interview, then I'll dothat.
If you need help findingdevices, hey, we'll give it a
(25:51):
try.
But I mean, we're all on thesame team.
We want to put bad people away.
Bad people do not need to be inour society.
So if we can help you do that,let me know.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (26:01):
So is there a difference between a
service dog or an emotionalsupport dog?
Keith Compton (26:06):
No, her first role is going to be a service
canine.
Okay, she's no different than anarcotics canine, except her
purpose is different.
So no, they're actuallyconsidered service canines.
That's why she wears her littlebadge, her temporary, until we
get her real badge.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (26:23):
So does she get a badge number?
She already has one.
Keith Compton (26:25):
Oh, okay, so she's a member of the Allen
Police Department.
So I mean, like I said, she'sthe same as a narcotic canine,
except our purpose is different.
We're lovable.
We're not apprehension dogs.
So with her, I mean, she lovesto be pet, a lot of you know,
like narcotic canines, you'renot supposed to pet those or any
type of.
Anyone wants to touch any ofthe any of the other type dogs.
(26:47):
I mean, they're just, they'retrained different.
You know, they have a differentpurpose and they're good at
what they're trained to do withus.
We're we're meant to be lovable.
So that is a question I get alot of times is hey, can I pet
her?
Oh, absolutely, we're workingon the please stop jumping up on
people game.
So, but we'll, we'll get there.
Now.
She just gets excited, she's,she's 14 months old, she's.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (27:07):
So if people see you out in the public
, they they definitely alwaysshould ask before in case you
aren't working here.
Keith Compton (27:14):
So but yeah, I mean it.
They always everyone asks and Iappreciate that but yeah, she's
there to be loved on.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (27:26):
She does not lack that at all.
Very cool.
Well, lacey is awesome, eventhough she's ignored us this
entire podcast.
No, she worked this morning.
She's got a ticket.
She gets to sleep on the job.
Keith Compton (27:33):
Hey, don't say that too loud.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (27:37):
So we really appreciate you coming on.
We'll have you back another day.
Maybe we can talk more deep,dive into more what you do when
you're not working, Lacey.
Keith Compton (27:46):
Okay.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (27:47):
We'll save that for another day.
Thank you all for listening andwatching.
If you have more questionsabout upcoming events, check out
our website allenpoliceorg andfollow us on our social pages.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (27:57):
And make sure to like and subscribe
.
And if you have any questions,please leave them in the
comments down below.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (28:01):
See you next time.
Welcome back to another episode of Allen
Police.
Behind the Badge, we're yourhosts, officer Sam Ripamanti and
Alexus Birmingham.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (00:08):
And today our guest is Detective
Keith Compton and our specialguest K9 Lacey.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (00:14):
Hey, thanks for coming on.
Keith, Thanks for having us Allright, K9 Lacey.
If I'm not mistaken, she's theonly female K-9 we have in the
police department.
Keith Compton (00:22):
That is correct.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (00:23):
All right, what does she?
Keith Compton (00:23):
do.
She's a dual purpose canine.
She her main purpose is goingto be to detect electronic
storage devices that arepossibly hidden inside of homes,
vehicles, outside, and she'salso a um a therapy dog for
children that are are victims ofthe crimes that we encounter.
Outreach Coordinator Alexu (00:42):
When did you get Lacey?
I know she's pretty new to ourdepartment.
Keith Compton (00:45):
We started the first Sunday in January.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (00:49):
Wow .
Keith Compton (00:50):
So we trained together at the National
Computer Forensic Institute,which is the Secret Services
training facility in Hoover,alabama, and we were together
for two straight weeks, everyday, every moment of the day.
Outreach Coordinator Alexu (01:03):
When did they start training her?
Did she start training as apuppy?
Keith Compton (01:07):
So she started her training six months ago for
electronic storage detection andit's by a company that the
Secret Service contracted with,jordan Canine Detection, and he
was our master trainer thatbasically trained us on her.
The canines we got were.
They're good to go, they'retrained, they know what they're
doing.
It's on us to figure out how towork with them.
(01:29):
So we have to build our levelup to theirs, which is just
constant training all the timeso we can work together as a
team.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (01:36):
How often do you train with her?
Keith Compton (01:37):
Every day.
So she is what we consider foodreward, and so the only time
she does eat is whenever she'sdetecting electronic devices.
And so three to four times aday we will have a room that we
get, or possibly hallway outside, and we just put electronic
devices.
I'll have them put in there byother people so they can hide
them from me, so I don't evenknow where they're at.
(01:57):
So when we walk in there we,you know, we go to work, and
whenever she detects onelectronic device she gets
rewarded for it.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (02:08):
I'm assuming that's what triggers
her to know it's time to go towork.
Keith Compton (02:10):
When you put the food belt on, yeah, when she
sees the food pouch come on,that's her first indicator and
she starts getting excited.
She knows we're going somewhereto do something.
And then, when we get there,there are commands that I'll
give her, and it's putting herinto that mode.
I don't want to say thecommands right now because she
might start getting excited Forthose who can't see.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (02:26):
she's nice and calm right now taking a
nap.
Keith Compton (02:28):
She hasn't been calm all morning.
So right now we work thismorning outside in front of the
police department and I hadprobably about five mobile
devices that I scatteredthroughout the area.
So our goal when we get to anoutdoor area is to get downwind
of that scent.
So our goal when we get to anoutdoor area is to get downwind
of that scent.
So she's trained to detect thescent that is on about 99% of
(02:49):
electronic storage devicestablets, hard drives, cell
phones.
It's a heat resistant shieldand it has a long chemical name
but we go by TPPO, so that iswhat she is trained to detect on
.
So when we're outside and we'redownwind, she definitely gets
that odor and she will just go.
And that's usually when I use aretractable leash that's about
(03:11):
30 feet long, because she ishigh drive, so she's going
towards those devices and whenshe locates she'll show it to me
and a lot of times she'll tapit with her paw and then she
gets rewarded on those things.
Oh, she gets excited, getsexcited.
So this morning we worked andthis is what happens to her
after we work, because herworking like that and that drive
being up, she'll stay on thedrive for probably 15 minutes
after we're working.
(03:32):
It's the equivalent of usrunning a 5K.
So whenever she's done andshe's calmed down, she'll sleep
and recover.
Outreach Coordinator Alexu (03:40):
It's pretty interesting to see how
she turns it on and off.
She's in a room around camerasand electronics and she's super
calm.
Keith Compton (03:47):
She's not in work mode right now.
Yeah, Pretty neat.
Yeah, If I put her in work modeshe would go crazy in here.
Outreach Coordinator Alexu (03:52):
Yeah , do you have any interesting
stories that you can share withus?
Keith Compton (03:57):
We have one.
So far we've gone out on threesearch warrants.
Our job mainly on searchwarrants is to come in once an
initial search has been done forelectronic devices and see if
maybe we've missed something.
If the investigators havemissed something, it's our job
to try to find something.
So last week we helped the FBIwith a search warrant.
It was a dark web narcoticscase and they did their initial
(04:20):
and secondary searches and thenwe came in.
In the first room we came inthere were electronic devices
that they had found and theirinstructor just leave them there
.
She's going to come in, she'sgoing to detect on those devices
and she gets rewarded for those.
But there was one particulararea of the room that she was
very focused on.
There was a closet next to thebed and there were a pile of
(04:41):
clothes at the bottom.
Well, she's got severaldifferent indicators for me to
let me know.
She's onto the odor, um, one ofthose being she's diving that
nose into that area and then shedoes what's called a blowout
with her nose.
It'll just blow out, and sothat's what I'm listening for,
and so at that point I have a uh, fbi agent with me and I'm like
hey, focus in that area.
She's really interested in that.
(05:01):
So we went upstairs to run acouple of other rooms and when I
came back downstairs they letme know that, hey, we found a
phone in there and that's thephone they were looking for.
That's wild.
We were able to help them out,so we may have missed it if we
didn't have her.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (05:15):
That's pretty awesome.
So so do you get that realexcited high pitch voice when
she does something good?
Oh, like that Absolutely.
Keith Compton (05:22):
Oh yeah, training is a little different.
I have to work on that.
But when she does it in thefield, oh yeah I get real
excited.
It's fun to see, I got to seethis.
So I mean you're also.
I mean you're looking at thepressure.
You know it's different goingout with our detectives from the
CAC, but now you that are outthere and TFOs that are with
them, so it's a little nervous.
(05:43):
But it's like whenever you seethat she has found something
that they missed, oh it'sawesome.
I mean it's cool.
Outreach Coordinator Alexu (05:55):
Yeah , you did mention she was an
emotional support dog as well.
I know that she can detect whenyou're on these search warrants
or when you're doing this andyou get stressed.
Can she sense that as well,because I feel like you've told
me.
Can she sense that as well?
Or how do?
Because I I feel like you toldme a story.
Keith Compton (06:05):
It's yes so day one they told us that your
emotions and feelings go downthe leash.
If you're having a bad day,they're gonna know it.
So they're not gonna work thatday because they're only focused
.
That point is hey, the personI'm bonded with over here is is
having issues, whatever it maybe.
So she almost just goes intothat mode, to where she's like,
(06:26):
hey, I need to make him betterbefore I can work.
And I didn't see it.
You know, for a few days We'dhad three really good days of
training.
I mean, she was on point, shewas finding everything, and then
we did vehicle searches and,mind you, this is the first time
that Homeland Security andSecret Services put this program
on, and Every day we had peoplefilming us and we had agents
(06:49):
out there taking picturesbecause you know, this is a big
thing for them, and so there's alot of pressure that goes into
that.
Well, for her to get under avehicle to start looking for,
say, an air tag or a tracker oranything else that's under there
, I've got to get down there toto let her know hey, it's OK,
you know, you're good, I'm withyou, we're going to be safe when
she has that trust and she'lldig, you know, further into
(07:10):
there.
On this day I'm trying to get upunder there and I'm stressed.
And I didn't realize it she didbecause all she wanted to do is
is jump on top of me and startlicking me.
My food pouch is open.
I got food everywhere and it'sjust like it's just not working.
But she knew that, she knew Iwas stressed and so she's like,
hey, we're not working right now, let's just get you better.
So I came up from underneaththe car and one of the secret
(07:33):
service agents was there andhe's like, yep, that's on video.
I was like awesome.
So but yeah, they, theydefinitely can.
They, they can, they can sensewhen someone's, you know,
stressed out about something or,you know, scared.
So her purpose is say thatwe're doing a forensic interview
on a child that's been a victimof, you know, one of these
crimes.
We can bring her in and, youknow, try to let her calm that
(07:55):
child down to get through thatvery difficult interview for
them.
Also, if we're on a searchwarrant that you know, possibly
we have kids there and they'renot understanding why a bunch of
police officers are in thereand they're scared, I can bring
her in, let you know, let herjust go with them and just calm
them down as well, so she's ableto do both of those.
Outreach Coordinator Alexu (08:13):
Well , that's great.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (08:13):
That's awesome, and I'm sure the foot
traffic in your office hastripled volume since January.
Keith Compton (08:22):
Yes, she gets many visitors a day and every
time someone comes in she's gota little tug of war toy.
She'll bring it to you and it'stime.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (08:31):
She's like let's play.
We've had some tug of war inthe last week or two.
She's a strong girl.
Yes, she is.
But I could see you know youtalk about the peer support side
.
I could see you know if ourofficers are having a rough day
and they come by and you know,come see Lacey and that could
help out out and you know, oh,I've relaxed.
Keith Compton (08:50):
I've seen the difference in just the three
weeks we've been back.
Um, sometimes she's, so she hadto get used to our place first.
So the first week she was kindof on a leash because people
would come in if she getsstartled.
You know she like barks she'snot normally a barker, but she
gets startled and so after abouta week she started getting used
to the place, the people, andso now she's kind of venturing
out a little bit more and I meanit's, it's good for our
(09:11):
detectives.
She goes out and you knowshe'll bring the tug of war and
it's like they'll play tug ofwar for 10, 15 minutes.
That's 10, 15 minutes.
The detectives can get awayfrom what they're doing and just
relax for a sec, take a break,mental break, yeah, and you can
see that that the morale in CIDhas gone up.
That's awesome.
I've become the forgotten one.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (09:31):
It's like look, it's Lacey, never me,
and the guy that walks her andthe guy that walks her.
Outreach Coordinator Alexu (09:36):
Does she go home with you every day?
Officer Sam Rippamonti (09:37):
Yes, yes , she lives in the house.
Yes, absolutely Not an outsidedog.
Keith Compton (09:41):
No, she's not.
She's a princess.
She likes playing outdoors, butno, when, when it's bedtime,
she's curled up on a couch andshe's like I'm out, that's
awesome.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (09:50):
How does she do with throw pillows?
Keith Compton (09:53):
Well, it was good until this week.
And then she I left the houseI'm trying to trust her a little
more and more and I left herfor an hour to go to the grocery
store and I came back and anice decorative pillow was
ripped apart and she just hadthe most guilty look on her face
.
She knew she was in trouble.
Yeah, as a matter of fact, Ithink she was trying to go for
one of these pillows before westarted today I was like no, we
(10:14):
can't do that.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (10:15):
Got a thing for throw pillows, yes, so
moving forward, what's thefuture look like for Lacey?
Like getting her involved inmore of these warrants?
Keith Compton (10:28):
and different type of calls.
We did a first of all with ourcurrent investigators assigned
to the CAC.
There's four of them.
They're going to keep us busy,which is good.
We need the real world reps onthose.
But I also went down to the FBIoffice in Frisco yesterday.
We have a task force officerdown there and they were very
interested in seeing her work.
So I went down there and we dida demo with them and they have
(10:52):
a couple of individuals, acouple of agents that are
assigned to ICAC task force,which is crimes against children
, and they were asking hey,would she be available to come
out on warrants?
And I said absolutely.
I said the more warrants youcan give us, the better, because
the more we can get out thereand work like that and not a
training environment, it's goingto help us in the long run.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (11:10):
Are there many canines like Lacey
out there?
Keith Compton (11:13):
So the company that did this, todd Jordan.
He's got, I think,approximately 185 worldwide.
I believe she is number 175.
She's only the third one in theDallas-Fort Worth area.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (11:26):
So there's only three in this area.
Keith Compton (11:27):
So if I demand for her, yes, absolutely Until
recently there had only been one.
Dallas PD has a canine that'sESD, and the Collin County
Sheriff's Office got one shortlybefore I left.
So now there's three of us inthis area.
Y'all do joint work.
We haven't yet, just becausewe're still trying to get our
(11:47):
situation settled in.
But the great thing about thatis the Dallas PD dog and the
Collin County Sheriff's Officedog all come from the same
trainer, so when we get togetherwe're trained the same way.
That's good, doing the samething.
So that definitely is going tobe a help.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (12:02):
And the temperament of this breed, they
probably all get along fine.
Keith Compton (12:08):
We had all labs in our, our class.
There were 12 of us and, yeah,at the beginning of the morning
they all went to play with eachother and they're just like, oh
my god, hey, what's going on?
But what we would typically dofor training is we would get a
hotel room, we'd get three ofthose and people had checked out
and we'd hit different oneseach day.
Well, they're hiding devices inthere for us to go up and run
those.
You know, know those rooms, andso we would, you know, go to a
(12:30):
room, work that, come down,maybe rest for 15, 20 minutes,
as we're all rotating through by1130, it's, it's, you know
we're.
We're breaking for lunch andwe're doing a debrief and you
look around the room and they'reall passed out.
I mean, they're just all sotired from from working.
So, and it was, it was justfunny to see.
It's like you couldn't see adog that was even up.
They were just all sleepinglike this.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (12:51):
That's awesome.
So you said something earlierabout crawling under cars if
you're looking for a tracker andyou said air tag.
Now, an air tag is tiny, mm-hmm, but it still has that odor, so
she can smell something assmall as an air tag.
Keith Compton (13:06):
She can smell something as small as a micro SD
card.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (13:09):
Wow .
Officer Sam Rippamonti (13:11):
Oh, as an air tank, she can smell
something as small as a micro SDcard.
Keith Compton (13:12):
Wow, oh yeah, that's like what goes in a cell
phone.
Yes, she can detect on those.
So yes, so she sniffs through,like walls, like how, if the
odor is strong enough to becoming towards her?
Yes, she can detect it.
Now there's a lot of variablesthat go into it.
You've got more airflow thananything.
So is the device here?
But the way the air is comingthrough this room, is it pushing
(13:32):
it to this side of the room?
So she may be sensing it overhere.
It's not strong.
So she's looking for thestrongest part of that odor.
So she may be sensing it overthere and it's kind of confusing
her.
She's like I know it's got tobe around here but it's not that
strong.
So sometimes we'll come backaround, we'll work it again and
if, if two times through, she'ssensing something but not on it,
(13:53):
we may work her opposite way.
And I found that working herthat opposite direction, that's
when she'll pick up on it.
So it's there's a lot of thingsthat just go into it.
I found out real quickly ourbuilding's not great for
training just because we have somany computers, hard drives and
things like that.
So it's finding areas thatdon't have all of that in there.
So the biggest challenge so farhas been able to reach out and
(14:13):
figure out where we can train.
So we've we've done pretty good, we've got, you know, the
courts.
We've been able to work.
City hall's got a couple offloors, the fire departments.
We're going to start workingwith them and just going through
the different apartments.
And during the summertime I'vespoken with the SROs and we
could definitely get in thereand start working on some of
those rooms.
So but that's the biggestchallenge for us because if
(14:33):
we're not changing it up, thenshe starts to become either
complacent with it or she knowswhere devices have been hidden
in this area before.
Having to learn is okay.
She's really starting to use it.
She's so smart that sheremembers where devices are.
Sometimes we're just walkingthe hallway.
We've worked that area.
She'll go to the plant wherethere was a USB drive in there
(14:56):
and she's either trying to sniffon it.
So that's that's.
Our biggest challenge is just tomake sure we keep, you know,
changing it up, and that's alsopart of our training.
We don't feed at the same timeevery day.
We don't, you know, we don't goto the same locations.
It has to be different for her.
You have to keep her, you know,ready to go at any time.
And that's also, you know,towards search warrants.
We don't know exactly when thesearch warrant's going to go or
when we're going to get broughtin.
(15:17):
So I don't, you know, can't gether fixated on.
Hey, it's around 830.
I usually get fed around nowbecause then you can start
falling into false alerts andthings like that.
So we just keep it differentevery day with her.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (15:27):
So how did you get the opportunity
to become a canine handler?
Keith Compton (15:31):
Well, this goes all the way back to being a
digital forensic examiner fulltime.
I started digital forensicsback in 2012 when I was in
narcotics, and that justconsisted basically of very
small devices, mobile devices.
We didn't even need searchwarrants then.
So as a narcotic investigator,we would do a search warrant and
(15:52):
the rest of the investigatorsare doing the search and
interviews.
I'm over there with what it's aCellbrite, ufed Touch One and
I'm hooking this into a thumbdrive and I'm just taking the
call logs and text messages fromthese devices, from these
devices.
Fast forward to four years agowhen I finally became a
(16:12):
full-time digital forensicexaminer.
I've been going to NCFI forprobably eight, nine years now
and the reason we continue to godown there is the courses that
are offered by Secret Serviceare completely paid for.
The per diem, the travel, thehotel, everything is paid for by
them, and in some of theintermediate and advanced
classes in forensics, we'reactually returning with a lot of
equipment.
Some classes we're bringing$30,000, $40,000 worth of
(16:35):
equipment back, and thatequipment is laptops.
It could be equipment to fix adevice, a mobile device, or to
basically you know we used tocall it a JTAG chip off of a
device if we couldn't get thepasscode.
So we're getting all of thattraining.
Well, for years they've beenwanting to implement an ESD
canine program.
(16:55):
So finally this, this last year, they were able to get it
approved by Homeland Securityand Secret Service and we were
the first class to get to go doit.
Since and as a matter of factit was it was curious the
question got asked on, like thelast day how were we chosen?
There were 12 of us total and Ibelieve there were 600
applicants.
So the question was asked howwere we chosen to be handlers?
(17:21):
And the, the trainingcoordinator, her name's Anna
Holloway.
She's a agent down there.
She said these are my biggestproducers as far as we enter our
any, any device we touch mobiledevices, computers, whatever it
may be.
If we process it, we enter thatinto um, a system called FPR,
and that's the stats that theSecret Service uses to go to
(17:42):
Congress to get their budget.
So they look at that.
When determining whether we getsome of these more advanced
classes is are you producing,are you taking the knowledge
we're giving you and using it inyour field?
And so the 12 of us, we're someof the biggest producers and
we're some of the most dependentones, because we've never had
any issues taking any of thosecourses down there.
(18:03):
We're always engaged, we'realways just willing to learn, so
that's how she chose us.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (18:08):
So every dog that was there?
Were they like electronic andalso emotional support, or was
it just no?
Keith Compton (18:16):
that's.
That's how Todd Jordan trainshis canines is.
So her story and most of thestories from from the canines is
they didn't start out with ToddJordan learning electronic
Mm-hmm, a nonprofit that,basically, obedient, trains
canines to work with kids withdisabilities.
Well, her drive is so high thatthey saw that that probably may
(18:49):
not be a good fit for that.
So then Todd Jordan the trainer, he gets her and he sees that
you know her drive is perfectfor what she's doing now it's.
This is just what she's meantto do and sometimes, you know
dogs have to.
You know they have a purpose.
We just have to find out whatpurpose it is for them and she
absolutely loves this.
I mean, when she's ready, whenwe go to work, she is excited
(19:13):
and she just loves it.
I mean it's a challenge for her.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (19:16):
And she loves it.
But your daily steps have gonethrough.
Oh my goodness.
Keith Compton (19:20):
I've climbed those stairs more times in the
last three weeks than I have myentire career.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (19:24):
Do you guys visit the schools?
Have you taken her?
Not yet.
Keith Compton (19:27):
So this is all you know.
We're progressing with this.
We've done a few demos forpeople.
We're getting the word out thatyou know this is who we are,
this is what we can do, but I'vealso got to balance.
What my full-time job is is adigital forensic examiner.
My full-time job is is adigital forensic examiner, and
when I say that it's myself andone other individual, detective
(19:48):
Forcan.
We are full-time examiners.
Last year we processed over 450devices, so that in and of
itself, is a full-time job.
So this is finding the balancebetween that and using her.
But she's so valuable as a toolfor us in the you know, crimes
against children world that Icouldn't pass that opportunity
up.
I mean, we we have enough casesthat she is definitely going to
(20:09):
do some good for us and it'sit's valuable, and so I'm
willing to make the sacrificeand try to figure out how to
balance them.
I will.
When I was in narcotics, I wascarrying 280 cases a year and I
was processing over 250 devicesa year, so it's a lot of work,
but at the same time, they wereboth important to me, so I'll
find out a way to make this workas well.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (20:30):
You definitely found your passion.
Yes, Cause this you know.
When you first started the cellphone thing, being able to get
into these devices, I rememberit just kind of started growing
and all these agencies startedreaching out Cause I'm.
Yes, Detective Compton is thebest he can do it.
I don't know if I'm the best.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (20:48):
I'm just proficient.
Keith Compton (20:50):
No, I enjoy helping other agencies out.
I mean, I was on SWAT for 15years.
I was on narcotics for 10 years.
That was fun, I loved it, itwas great.
But this transition's been nice.
It really has.
There's nothing better thangoing to court and testifying on
what's on someone's device.
When it was passcode protected,they're like how did they get
(21:13):
that information?
I mean, it's just the look intheir eyes like I can't believe
Apple says this thing.
You can't break into it.
Well, we have our ways.
But that's fun.
It's fun to see it.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (21:23):
I've known you for a long time.
Yes, you know, 18 years.
This May is how long I've knownyou and to see how you've
changed from when I started herein 07, he was the guy.
If I saw him in the hallway Iwas.
He was intimidating because hejust always had this look on his
face.
I was not intimidating, don'ttalk to me, I, he had this look
on his face.
It's not intimidating.
Don't talk to me.
I was not like that.
(21:43):
Not Compton.
Now see, I don't know if it'syou.
This is the sweetest guy ever.
Thank you, oh, come on, youdidn't know early on.
Compton, no, he's a really niceguy.
He just had the look and I wasthe young guy you know, so
stayed in my lane, but now hehas something to do with it too.
Oh, definitely, he is a wholedifferent person.
He's the happiest I've everseen him.
(22:04):
He's smiling all the time andit seems like you really enjoy
what you're doing.
Oh, absolutely.
Keith Compton (22:12):
Absolutely.
She makes it easy.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (22:15):
She does , so how is she with Mrs Compton
?
Keith Compton (22:19):
That was an adjustment.
It's like having a baby itself.
So I drove to NCFI for this andthe day we left we drove back.
It was about 10 hours becausewe had to stop a few more times
and I've told her how great sheis and how obedient she is, and
I mean I'm just propping her up.
As soon as we got in the housethe zoomies hit her and she went
crazy.
(22:40):
No command I would give herwould make her stop.
I just had to let it out andshe just looked at me.
It was like, really, this isthat well-trained dog.
I was like she is.
You just have to see it.
She's just excited, so now it'sbeen an adjustment, but she
loves her yeah, yeah and uh.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (22:55):
So you have a partner at work.
You mentioned him earlier, sean.
Keith Compton (22:59):
He's kind of ocd kind of yeah, a little bit,
let's touch.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (23:03):
If you're listening, sean, I mean I
thought I was.
Keith Compton (23:04):
OCD until I met him, which is good.
I mean, our office is squaredaway.
It's always organized, a littleover-organized from time to
time.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (23:12):
But yeah , how's he doing with the
shedding?
He's got better A little bityeah.
Keith Compton (23:18):
So I mean we try to make it as clean as possible
in there, because we do have alot of expensive forensic
equipment.
Who runs the vacuum?
I do?
I figured yeah.
But yeah, we keep it as cleanas possible because I mean we
don't want our very expensiveforensic workstations to get
cluttered up.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (23:35):
I mean Y'all's office is very neat and
clean.
Yes, so we're constantlycleaning.
It's like a gamer's paradise inthere.
It really is.
It's like a gamer's paradise inthere.
There's computers everywhere,big monitors.
Keith Compton (23:45):
Oh yeah, we have fun with it.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (23:47):
How does she benefit the city of
Allen?
Keith Compton (23:53):
How she benefits.
The city of Allen, like I said,is going to be working with our
investigators at the CAC.
The cases that they investigateare tough, they really are, and
between one us possibly findingevidence that's going to put
someone that's really bad awayfor a long time is valuable.
And also they're to supportthese kids, because I think a
lot of times that gets thatdoesn't get noticed enough that
(24:17):
this is going to affect thisperson for the rest of their
life, absolutely.
I mean that's.
There are a lot of victims of alot of the crimes we
investigate, but this is the onetrue one that will affect
someone for the rest of theirlife.
And if we can be a positiveinfluence at any point during
our interaction with them,whether it's during the
(24:38):
investigation, the interview,whatever it may be, then that
means everything, because theymay not have a lot of positive
things to look forward toimmediately because you know
they're they're trying to getthrough a very traumatic
experience.
But if we can be positive atany point, then that's worth it.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus B (24:54):
I think she's also very great for
not only our community but inAllen, but we're also able to
work with other agencies andhelp out our partnering cities.
You know as well and it's verybeneficial.
Keith Compton (25:07):
Absolutely.
My goal in digital forensicswas if I can help you, I will.
If I've got access to somethingthat you don't and it's going
to help you build your case,then bring it over.
We're all on one team, that'sthe thing.
It doesn't matter what agencywe're with.
If I can help you out with yourcase, then let's help you.
(25:29):
It's going to be the same withher.
I'm starting to get the wordout to other agencies, because
there are other agencies thathave investigators with the CAC
or investigating child crimecases.
If we can help you out in anyway, let us, if that's to, come
over and let someone you knowpet her and get through a very
tough interview, then I'll dothat.
If you need help findingdevices, hey, we'll give it a
(25:51):
try.
But I mean, we're all on thesame team.
We want to put bad people away.
Bad people do not need to be inour society.
So if we can help you do that,let me know.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (26:01):
So is there a difference between a
service dog or an emotionalsupport dog?
Keith Compton (26:06):
No, her first role is going to be a service
canine.
Okay, she's no different than anarcotics canine, except her
purpose is different.
So no, they're actuallyconsidered service canines.
That's why she wears her littlebadge, her temporary, until we
get her real badge.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (26:23):
So does she get a badge number?
She already has one.
Keith Compton (26:25):
Oh, okay, so she's a member of the Allen
Police Department.
So I mean, like I said, she'sthe same as a narcotic canine,
except our purpose is different.
We're lovable.
We're not apprehension dogs.
So with her, I mean, she lovesto be pet, a lot of you know,
like narcotic canines, you'renot supposed to pet those or any
type of.
Anyone wants to touch any ofthe any of the other type dogs.
(26:47):
I mean, they're just, they'retrained different.
You know, they have a differentpurpose and they're good at
what they're trained to do withus.
We're we're meant to be lovable.
So that is a question I get alot of times is hey, can I pet
her?
Oh, absolutely, we're workingon the please stop jumping up on
people game.
So, but we'll, we'll get there.
Now.
She just gets excited, she's,she's 14 months old, she's.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (27:07):
So if people see you out in the public
, they they definitely alwaysshould ask before in case you
aren't working here.
Keith Compton (27:14):
So but yeah, I mean it.
They always everyone asks and Iappreciate that but yeah, she's
there to be loved on.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (27:26):
She does not lack that at all.
Very cool.
Well, lacey is awesome, eventhough she's ignored us this
entire podcast.
No, she worked this morning.
She's got a ticket.
She gets to sleep on the job.
Keith Compton (27:33):
Hey, don't say that too loud.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (27:37):
So we really appreciate you coming on.
We'll have you back another day.
Maybe we can talk more deep,dive into more what you do when
you're not working, Lacey.
Keith Compton (27:46):
Okay.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (27:47):
We'll save that for another day.
Thank you all for listening andwatching.
If you have more questionsabout upcoming events, check out
our website allenpoliceorg andfollow us on our social pages.
Outreach Coordinator Alexus (27:57):
And make sure to like and subscribe
.
And if you have any questions,please leave them in the
comments down below.
Officer Sam Rippamonti (28:01):
See you next time.
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