| Last updated September 4, 2006. |
K-9 Crime Fighters
The Austin Fire Department's Fire and Arson
investigation section has an accelerant
detection canine named Pearl. Pearl is a
4-year-old (as of 2006) black labrador
retriever, and she investigates fire scenes
throughout Austin with her partner Lt.
Frederick Brooks. Constantly on call, Pearl
and Lt. Brooks work as a team, and Pearl
cannot work a fire scene with any other
officer.
Working from a "food-reward" protocol,
Pearl is specially trained to locate and
identify the presence of accelerants, such as
lighter fuel or gasoline, that persist in the
charred remains of a fire. When she
indicates that she has located an accelerant,
samples are taken and sent to a forensics
lab for verification.
investigation section has an accelerant
detection canine named Pearl. Pearl is a
4-year-old (as of 2006) black labrador
retriever, and she investigates fire scenes
throughout Austin with her partner Lt.
Frederick Brooks. Constantly on call, Pearl
and Lt. Brooks work as a team, and Pearl
cannot work a fire scene with any other
officer.
Working from a "food-reward" protocol,
Pearl is specially trained to locate and
identify the presence of accelerants, such as
lighter fuel or gasoline, that persist in the
charred remains of a fire. When she
indicates that she has located an accelerant,
samples are taken and sent to a forensics
lab for verification.
| Austin Fire Department K-9, Pearl |
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| Photo by Captain Bob Parker of the Austin Fire Department |
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The "food-reward" system means that for Pearl to eat, she correctly has to indicate
that she has found a hydrocarbon. Pearl alerts her handler to a detected accelerant
by sitting. If Lt. Brooks cannot get her to move away from it, he then presents her
with food while she is still at the detected source.
Pearl was provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and
she is valued at $50,000. The Bureau provides accelerant detection canines to local
investigative agencies.
that she has found a hydrocarbon. Pearl alerts her handler to a detected accelerant
by sitting. If Lt. Brooks cannot get her to move away from it, he then presents her
with food while she is still at the detected source.
Pearl was provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and
she is valued at $50,000. The Bureau provides accelerant detection canines to local
investigative agencies.
