Meet Dare County’s furry four-legged crimefighters

By Maggie Miles | Outer Banks Voice on January 4, 2026

The K-9’s of the Nags Head, Manteo, Kill Devil Hills and Southern Shores Police Departments.

By Maggie Miles | Outer Banks Voice

In cases of child exploitation and human trafficking, devices such as SIM card and USB flash drives used by predators are hidden in inconspicuous places, making them extremely difficult to find. That’s where Sailor comes in.

Sailor who has four legs and a thick, shiny coat, is an ESD (Electronic Storage Detection) K-9, specifically trained to help her human colleagues sniff out these devices and help the Kill Devil Hills Police Department find crucial evidence in time-sensitive situations.

Sailor, a 2-year-old Black Labrador Retriever, is one of 10 K-9s that play vital roles in law enforcement across Dare County. They are trained and utilized in a variety of skills, from narcotics detection and human tracking to article and vehicle searches, criminal apprehension, and community engagement.

Each K-9 has its own handler, an officer who is assigned to work with the K-9 as a team and care for the animal. While the K-9’s were trained in different programs around the country, every week, the K9s in Dare County meet together to train, maintain, and improve skills.

Typically, the dogs go to work every day with their handler and live with them as well. And these K-9s have the olfactory ability to sniff out things that humans simply cannot.

“Their scent is thousands of times stronger than ours,” says K-9 Officer David Rhoads of the Manteo Police Department. “Whereas we can smell a cheeseburger, they can pick out the individual scent of the bun, the cheese, the meat, the ketchup, the lettuce.”

According to the officers they work with, these K-9s are more than just their keen sense of smell. They are hard workers, dedicated to their job and always ready for their next mission.  They work in the Manteo, Nags Head, Kill Devil Hills and Southern Shores Police Departments. The Dare County Sheriff’s Department utilizes four K-9s, but Voice efforts to obtain an interview with that office for this story were unsuccessful.

Manteo Police Department K-9 Hardy with his handler K-9 Officer Rhoads. (Photo credit: Officer Jocelyn Whidbee)

Hardy during routine training. (Photo credit: Officer Jocelyn Whidbee)

 

K-9 Hardy in the Manteo Police Department

Officer Rhoads works with Hardy, a five-year-old yellow lab. Trained at K2 K9 Solutions in Jackson Springs, NC, Hardy’s primary duty is narcotics detection, but he can also be utilized for the tracking and trailing of humans and evidence searches.

Rhoads explains that when they get a call, for example, about a report of a missing child, the handler goes to the last known location of the person. If available, they collect a scent article (like an item of clothing) for Hardy to sniff. Hardy then begins tracking by following the trail of skin cells and scent left behind, to locate the person or any evidence left on the trail.

For narcotics detection, Hardy is brought to locations such as vehicles during traffic stops. The handler instructs Hardy to search to detect the presence of narcotics. Rhoads says he knows Hardy’s getting close when he closes his mouth and starts breathing only out of his nose.

When Hardy identifies a scent he’s trained to find, he performs an alert behavior (like sitting or facing the odor source), signaling to Rhoads that narcotics are present. Rhoads is trained in reading Hardy’s body language to confirm the detection, after which Hardy is rewarded, typically with his favorite Kong toy. The pair continue to train two days a month, eight hours a day with the Currituck Police Department, where Rhoads lives.

“It’s a great benefit for us,” said Rhoads.  “I love him. He’s an absolutely phenomenal dog. He has such a high drive, a lot of energy. He just loves being out there. Right now he’s just laying there in the living room, kind of chilling. But if I got up out of my chair right now, he’d probably get up and be like, ‘Hey, we’re going somewhere!’

K-9 Zorro from the Nags Head Police Department. (Photo credit: Town of Nags Head)

 

K-9 Apollo from the Nags Head Police Department. (Photo credit: Town of Nags Head)

K-9s Zorro and Apollo in the Nags Head Police Department

The Nags Head Police Department has two full criminal apprehension K-9s. Zorro, a 14-month-old Belgian Malinois is handled by Senior Police Officer Matt Huntingford, and Apollo, a two-year-old Belgian Malinois is handled by Master Police Officer Kana Hashigami.

Zorro is currently in training and expected to begin active duty in mid-March, while Apollo is already on active duty. Nags Head uses a Four Oaks, North Carolina-based training vendor, after which their officers complete eight weeks of hands-on training with their K-9 partners. Both of the K-9s’ duties include patrol, narcotics detection, article searches, and criminal apprehension.

“Our K-9s are an invaluable asset to our department. Not only are they used for narcotics detection and criminal apprehension, but they also play an important role in building relationships in our community,” said Nags Head Police Chief Perry Hale, who explained that the K-9s can be found at a variety of their outreach programs, such as National Night Out, school events, and summer camps.

“They are an important part of our law enforcement family, and we always look forward to their office visits so we can give them a good back scratch and play tug of war,” he added.

Electronic Storage Detection K-9 Sailor of the Kill Devil Hills Police Department (One of only nine ESD K-9s in the state) with her handler Detective Luke Peden. (Photo credit: Melissa Mattingly of Duke Dog Photography)

 

K-9 Zar of the Kill Devil Hills Police Department at his most recent K9 Decoy school with NC K9 LLC in Four Oaks, NC. Photo courtesy of Officer Gulledge (Officer Gulledge is not pictured)

 

Sailor and Zar in the Kill Devil Hills Police Department

Along with Sailor, the KDH Police Department also has Zar, an eight-year-old male Belgian Malinois that has been working in the department for seven years with his handler, Master Police Officer Steven Gulledge. Born in Mexico, Zar is a Dual-Purpose K-9 trained in narcotics detection, article searches, tracking, and apprehension. Zar is certified with the Virginia Police Work Dog Association and is trained in three languages. Zar and Gulledge are assigned to the patrol division.

Sailor works with her handler, Detective Luke Peden, who wrote the grant to get Sailor through the non-profit OUR Rescue. That grant covered the cost of Sailor and all of her training in addition to Detective Peden’s training at Jordan Detection K-9 in Indianapolis. According to the KDH Police Department, she is one of only nine ESD K-9s in the state, making her extremely valuable. Prior to going to detection training, Sailor was in training to become a service dog for individuals with disabilities at the Ability Center in Toledo, OH.

While Sailor is primarily utilized in cases involving child exploitation and human trafficking, she is also trained to work on any case in which digital evidence is being sought and/or a digital device is being used criminally, such as tracking devices placed on vehicles or the location of hidden cameras.

“She is much more than that, though,” said Lieutenant Julie A Haner, of the KDH Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division. “Sailor is utilized as a comfort dog for victims, witnesses, and officers during or after stressful incidents or interviews. She also helps during education and outreach programs in the community to teach children and adults about the current issues and dangers everyone is facing in a digital society.”

Along with working on cases for the Criminal Investigations Division, Sailor and Peden are assigned to the North Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the NC Eastern Regional Human Trafficking Task Force.

“Our K9s and their handlers are an exceptional resource, and we are very fortunate to have a diverse and capable group here at the Kill Devil Hills Police Department and throughout in Dare County,” said Haner.

K-9 Arty of Southern Shores Police Department. (Courtesy of Officer Long)

K-9 Arty and his handler Senior Patrol Officer Thomas Long after giving a demonstration to a class at Kitty Hawk Elementary School. (Courtesy of Officer Long)

 

Arty and the Southern Shores Police Department

Southern Shores has a K-9 named Arty, who is handled by Senior Patrol Officer Thomas H. Long. According to Long, Arty is a fun-loving, goofy, highly energetic and talented three-and-a-half-year-old Dutch Shepherd. Arty was born in Poland and then moved to Ventosa Kennels in Scotland Neck, NC when he was a little over a year old.

“Arty and I met in the late summer of 2023 when Chief [David] Kole, now-retired Deputy Chief [Jon] Slegel, Town Manager Cliff Ogburn, and I visited Ventosa Kennels to look for a K-9 that would help accomplish our mission of establishing and maintaining mutual trust among all individuals to improve the quality of life while enforcing the law,” said Long.

Arty is trained to detect narcotics such as fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, crack, cocaine, and ecstasy. He is also trained in tracking, which could involve anything from tracking a suspect who fled from law enforcement officers to an elderly individual who wandered away from home. He is also trained in article searches and can be deployed to an open area such as a field to locate evidence such as bullet casings, discarded drugs, phones, etc. that may be hidden or lost in that area.

“Arty and I love to interact with the general public—an activity that I consider to be one of the most important functions of our K-9 program,” said Long, noting that he and Arty frequently visit the Kitty Hawk Elementary School and the annual Fall Festival to educate the public about police K-9s and give them an opportunity to meet and interact with the K-9.

“During Arty’s years of service to this community, he has aided in removing dangerous narcotics from our streets, locating suspects who fled from law enforcement, and locating individuals who have wandered from their homes,” said Long. “More importantly, he has touched the hearts of countless people, one interaction at a time.”