The Regional Explosives Detection Dog Initiative (REDDI) will be hosted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), a Finalist in the 2017 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program, at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC on November 15, 2017.
REDDI is an outreach effort to State and Local law enforcement aimed at improving explosive detection canine team training effectiveness and efficiency in order to improve overall operational proficiency.
Canines are a demonstrated effective Homeland Security resource, but many explosives detection canine teams have limited access to the latest knowledge on explosive threat odors.
This could prevent them from realizing their full potential.
(To improve training for explosives detection, EXD develops low-cost, non-hazardous training aids that can be used to improve and test canine ability to detect new threats. EXD has conducted behavior analysis on canine teams, both dog and handler, to enhance and validate testing methods. Courtesy of DHS Science and Technology Directorate and YouTube)
For example, many teams have limited access to critical training materials and/or limited time to establish rigorous training scenarios.
“With REDDI, S&T seeks to improve the operational effectiveness of the law enforcement explosive detection canine teams by setting up real-world problems, and sharing our latest knowledge,” said Don Roberts, DHS S&T Detection Canine Program Manager.
“REDDI also helps inform our research investment priorities to achieve our mission of providing tools, techniques and knowledge to better understand, train, and utilize the Homeland Security Enterprise detection canine teams.”
Wednesday, November 15: 9:30 AM EDT
Explosives Detection Canine teams representing numerous state and local law enforcement agencies in the National Capitol Area will participate in an operational search based on a real-world scenario.
Capital One Arena
601 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004
DHS S&T Helps EXD K-9 Teams get REDDI
Dogs are uniquely suited to sniffing out explosives – their sense of smell is more than a million times stronger than a human’s.
Harnessing this natural ability to help law enforcement identify explosives requires specialized training and testing.
Many detection canine teams, however, have limited access to critical training materials and limited time to establish rigorous training scenarios.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate’s (S&T) Detection Canine Program has developed an initiative to support these needs for the nation’s more than 4,000 explosives detection canine teams.
The DHS S&T Detection Canine Program, part of S&T’s Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Explosives Division, has created the Regional Explosives Detection Dog Initiative (REDDI), a series of events aimed at advancing the knowledge and capabilities of the nation’s detection canine teams.
“We are setting up real-world problems,” added Don Roberts.
“REDDI seeks to improve the operational effectiveness of the law enforcement explosive detection canine teams while informing S&T on where our research investment needs to be focused going forward.“
In March 2017, the Detection Canine Program kicked off REDDI to share knowledge and provide exercises in basic odor recognition and realistic operational search scenarios.
REDDI began with the first event in Fort Myers, Florida, and moved to Westport, Connecticut, in April.
Miami, Florida, is scheduled to host REDDI in late May, and plans are underway to continue REDDI through 2018.
Up to 20 explosives detection canine teams participate in each two-day program, which includes classroom presentations on current explosive threats and the chemistry of explosives, as well as odor recognition trials and operational searches.
REDDI provides a realistic setting where law enforcement teams from several jurisdictions can evaluate their detection capabilities, understand their strengths, and identify additional training needs.
The DHS detection canine research program benefits from REDDI in that it validates current investments and informs the direction of future research.
Participation in a REDDI event is often the first opportunity a local law enforcement explosive detection canine team has to assess their capabilities in authentic, real world scenarios, with scientifically rigorous oversight by DHS S&T.
S&T has funded two tools to strengthen the impact of REDDI – non-hazardous peroxide training aids and a custom-developed data collection tool.
S&T partnered with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory to develop non-hazardous, non-detonable canine training aids made with actual peroxide-based explosives through a patented process.
These training aids can be used anywhere, require no special handling or storage requirements, and provide explosives detection canine teams more opportunities to train with the peroxides in operational settings.
“The problem is that these are sensitive explosives,” said Roberts.
“They are difficult to train with, and the teams aren’t getting the frequency of training we feel might be necessary to stay proficient.”
“Having non-hazardous training aids allows the teams to train with the peroxide material in the operational environment, like airports, stadiums or in mass transit.”
S&T is also using the Mobile Application for Canine Evaluation, or MACE, a tablet-based data collection tool developed by S&T partner Battelle Memorial Institute, to provide immediate feedback at REDDI events to canine teams and their trainers.
MACE compiles performance data in real time, which makes it possible for S&T to efficiently and effectively conduct REDDI as a two-day event.
“The explosives detection canine is the best, most versatile mobile explosive detection tool at our disposal for protecting the Homeland from the explosive threat,” said Roberts, “and DHS S&T’s mission is to provide tools, techniques and knowledge to better understand, train and utilize explosive detection canine teams in the operational environment.”
To learn more about REDDI, read the program factsheet or contact the team at SandT.explosives@hq.dhs.gov.
DHS Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) a Finalist in the 2017 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program
The 2017 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program, is organized to recognize the most distinguished vendors of Physical, IT, Port Security, Law Enforcement, First Responders, (Fire, EMT, Military, Support Services Vets, SBA, Medical Tech) as well as the Federal, State, County and Municipal Government Agencies – to acknowledge their outstanding efforts to ‘Keep our Nation Secure, One City at a Time.’
As an ‘ASTORS’ competitor, DHS S&T is competing against the industry’s leading providers of Innovative Critical Infrastructure Protection Solutions.
American Security Today will be holding the 2017 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Presentation Luncheon at 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m, Wednesday, November 15th at ISC East, the Northeast’s largest security industry event, in the Jacob Javits Exhibition Center in New York City.
At ISC East you will have the chance to meet with technical reps from over 225 leading brands in the security industry, allowing you to find out about new products and stay ahead of the competition.
Encompassing everything from Video Surveillance and Access Control to Smart Home Technologies and Unmanned Security, you’re sure to find products and services that will benefit your company and clients.
Good luck to DHS S&T on becoming a Winner of the 2017 American Security Today’s Homeland Security Awards Program!
Please visit the New DHS S&T Mobilizing Innovation website at https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/SciTechMobilizingInnovation/index.html.
Register today for the ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Luncheon on November 15th, in New York City and give yourself & your clients a break from the show!
The highlight of the 2017 AST Homeland Security Awards Program will be the ‘ASTORS’ Awards Presentation Luncheon at ISC East, in the Jacob Javits Exhibition Center from 12:00pm – 2:00pm.
The luncheon will take place immediately prior to the ISC East Keynote Session featuring Ray Kelly, Former Commissioner of the NYPD,
from 2:00pm – 3:00pm, in room 1A29.
