Source: US FBI
NEWARK, NJ—FBI Special Agent Jeff Calandra was out on a search a few months ago when he noticed Iris, his 10-year-old electronics detection K-9, was limping a bit. Jeff picked Iris out of a group of prospective K-9s and has been with her pretty much every day for 10 years, so he notices even the smallest changes in her behavior. Jeff thought maybe she was just physically fatigued from her usual grueling occupation – sniffing out hidden or missed electronic devices criminals hope law enforcement won’t find – and always has an anti-inflammatory medication on hand for her. She took the medicine, and it seemed to help. Later that evening, his wife noticed Iris limping again. Not thinking it was anything major but wanting to be sure, Jeff made an appointment with Iris’s vet for the next day. He had to first go to his required quarterly qualifying at the gun range in the morning. He said when Iris hopped out of the car, she was perky and acting normal. During their life together, Jeff has had full on conversations with Iris (noting with a laugh that she doesn’t answer back. At least not with words – she does bark.) Jeff said to her, “You’re fine! You just didn’t want to work yesterday.”
They arrived at the vet’s office, and during the physical evaluation of her, the vet noticed she didn’t like it when he pressed on her front left shoulder. He took Iris into the back room for some x-rays. Jeff waited, and a short time later, the vet came back out asking Jeff to follow him. Jeff walked into an exam room and saw nearly a dozen people all looking intently at the large, illuminated screen that held Iris’s x-rays. A few had tears in their eyes. The vet pointed out to Jeff a mass on the film and said, “This isn’t good.” Jeff instantly got emotionally overwhelmed. He’d spent more time with Iris in the last decade than he had his own family. She is more than his partner. He texted his supervisor and said Iris had to be immediately retired because she most likely has cancer and may only have a few months to live.
SA Calandra has been an FBI special agent for 16 years. He has a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s degree in computer forensics. He was assigned to a cyber squad after graduating from Quantico, back before Cyber was its own division in the FBI. He has worked everything from crimes against children to computer intrusions. During a case involving a sexual predator, an idea formed in his head. Jeff and other case agents knew a subject had photos of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) because he had sent those images to an undercover agent. They did several searches of the man’s home but never found the photos. They got a break in the case when the subject, who was in jail, asked his roommate to destroy a tool in his garage. The roommate gave that information to the FBI. Agents found a trove of electronic devices that held thousands of illegal images of CSAM. Jeff said, “That case gave me the idea to train a dog to find devices we as law enforcement either can’t find or simply miss. We train dogs to sniff out drugs, bombs, humans; all sorts of other things that have scent. What if we could train a dog to find electronic devices?”
He began a tremendous amount of research on how having an electronic detection dog would be valuable to the FBI. He and his supervisor at the time believed it was a long shot at best, but they filled out the paperwork anyway and presented a very lengthy proposal to the FBI Newark Special Agent-in-Charge. “We never expected it to get approved. He signed off on it.” Then Jeff began the harder process of putting what he had put on paper into action.
“We had a forensic chemist in Newark who had worked with the Connecticut State Police, and said they had one of the best K-9 training facilities in the country,” Jeff said. He signed up for the school, but still didn’t have a dog to train. CSP works with a group called Guiding Eyes for the Blind. The organization test dogs for temperament and a host of other features to make sure they will make good guide dogs for the blind. If one doesn’t make the cut as a future guide dog, trainers work with law enforcement agencies to place the dogs as K-9 officers. Jeff went to the facility and Iris was in the group of dogs they evaluated. “She has an incredible food drive,” Jeff said. “Which is extremely important for electronic detection dogs because they’re going to find what they’re trained to search for so they can eat.”
They spent the next 16 weeks together. Training. But at first it didn’t work. “I literally started to panic. What if the FBI just spent all this money on me and my idea – and it doesn’t work? I was determined to figure it out. So, I relied on my background in computer forensics and reverse engineered a circuit board. I figured out a way to train her to find specific scent.” And she did.
One of the first cases that proved to Jeff Iris was exceptional at finding electronic devices was during the Chelsea Bombing investigation in 2016. Jeff was asked to help search the now convicted subject Ahmad Rahimi’s home in New Jersey. “We had been working for a little bit in the house, but didn’t find much. I was in the backyard where the Evidence Response Team had set up a tent. Iris was doing loops in the grass. I thought she had to go the bathroom – and thought great she’s going to go right next to the ERT tent. When I tugged her leash so I could take her for a walk, she resisted. After a few times of that, I finally just let her go. She started digging, and digging, and digging. Then she sat. She had found a cell phone Rahimi used to test detonating his bombs. They used it as evidence at trial.”
Iris has been all over the country, and around the world. She assists local, state and other federal law enforcement agencies. She’s searched offices for the heads of other government agencies, ambassadors, appeared on national television. She’s been in tight spaces, behind walls, fallen through ceilings. She’s been electrocuted. She’s flown on the FBI G-5 jet. She’s been in speed boats. Another federal agency reached out to Jeff at one point to ask if they could evaluate just how talented she was. “She passed every test they threw at her. They couldn’t fake her out. It was impressive and immensely gratifying that this project worked.”
Jeff and Iris average about 100 searches a year, even during COVID, and she’s found nearly 20,000 pieces of evidence during her career. Jeff described a normal week in their lives. “We got called to help with a serial killer investigation in Kentucky. After that, we were scheduled to go to Ohio for a counterterrorism search but then got an immediate call to fly to Seattle for a counterintelligence search all in one week. It can be that crazy.” Iris lives with Jeff and his family. At first, it wasn’t the easiest situation. “I have always treated Iris like she’s a work asset. She only eats when she works, because that’s why she’s so good at her job. So, I’m working with her 365 days a year. I deliver two cups of food a day by hand – but she must earn it.” Yes, she does get to take time off. Jeff says those days she gets to eat by performing simple commands like sit, stay, paw. Normal dog stuff. However, that’s where the normal part ends. “My family can’t feed her or reward her because then she won’t respond to my commands. We also have to keep her away from electronics in our house – her brain wouldn’t shut off. But over time, Iris has become our third child. She comes on vacation with us. Funny thing, we have two other ‘normal’ dogs. They’re treated like dogs. Iris is treated like an agent who lives in my house.” Jeff continued, “She’s with me all the time. Under my seat on planes, with me in hotel rooms, in cars, in the office, in restaurants.”
Jeff remembered one night he forgot Iris is actually a dog. After several years, he got frustrated with the incredible hassle of his traveling with his gear, her gear, his clothing, her food, her kennel – all the things both a dog and human need while away from home. He decided to leave her crate at home and see how they faired without it. “I didn’t want to leave her out in the room. So, I thought why not the bathroom. I pulled out all the things I thought she would find entertaining to chew up. I left to go grab food and immediately returned to the room. When I open the door to let her out of the bathroom, she had chewed through the plumbing under the bathroom sink. Iris is a dog after all, and when they get mad, they show you they’re mad.” Now, Jeff says he gets two beds, gives her food and sneaks out so she won’t see him leave. “If she sees me leave, she freaks out. She’s just a furry kid.”
Iris was the only electronics detection dog until very recently working in the FBI. For a long time, she was the only dog in the world trained with the specific method, until Jeff assisted the Dutch with training an electronic detection K9. With Iris’s retirement, there will be a void that will be hard to fill. “We are working on a replacement, but it’s not going to be an easy process. I had hoped to eventually retire her but train another dog while working with her. Dogs mimic behavior so the new dog would learn from her. That timeline changed dramatically with her diagnosis.” The process could now take up to a year.
Recently, Iris underwent surgery to remove her front left leg to stop the cancer from spreading. Her doctors say they got all the cancerous cells, but she is still going through a course of chemotherapy. She’s also been fitted with a prosthetic leg and is learning how to maneuver on it. Jeff said now that she’s retired, a few things have changed. “She’s had pizza for the first time and gets to nap a lot more. But she won’t eat from a dog bowl, she doesn’t know how. I gave her food in a bowl, and she just laid her head down next to it and stared at me. So, we still hand feed her.”