Crime-Sniffers Are on the Scent

Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona on Monday unveiled the department’s newest crime-fighting tool: bloodhounds.

At the unveiling of the Orange County Sheriff Reserve Bloodhound Team--the state’s largest--deputies and volunteers showed how the dogs’ sensitive noses can help fight crime, as well as help find people.

Duke and Max--two of the department’s four hounds--were let loose with deputies in tow at the Irvine Regional Park and quickly found a man who was hiding.

The Sheriff’s Department deploys other dogs, such as German shepherds and Labradors, to sniff out drugs or explosives or catch suspects, but bloodhounds are increasingly used in investigations to detect what deputies can’t, said Sheriff’s Lt. Patrick Lee, in charge of the team.

A bloodhound’s sense of smell is more than 3 million times as sensitive as a human’s. “They have the Cadillac of noses in the dog world,” Lee said.

Despite their fearsome physique, the dogs are gentle.

“They don’t bite,” assured Carona as he looked at Max. “They only drivel.”