Royse City police add electronics-sniffing dog for child crime cases

Royse City police added a new investigative tool that could change how child-exploitation and internet-crime cases are built in Rockwall County: Tessa, a black Labrador trained to sniff out hidden electronics. The dog can help detectives find smartphones, hard drives, USB drives and SD cards tucked inside homes, offices, vehicles and other places where officers might otherwise miss critical evidence. She is also trained as a comfort dog, giving investigators a way to ease tension for victims and traumatized children during difficult interviews.

Detective Andrew Manson, Tessa’s handler, said internet crimes against children have grown because digital storage devices are so easy to obtain and conceal. That matters in practice because one hidden thumb drive, micro-SD card or cell phone can hold messages, images or location data that change the direction of a case. In child-exploitation investigations, the difference between finding a device and overlooking it can affect charges, sentencing exposure and whether prosecutors can connect a suspect to a child victim.

Tessa was provided free of charge by the U.S. Secret Service through the National Computer Forensics Institute in Hoover, Alabama, giving a smaller police department access to a specialty capability usually associated with much larger agencies. Federal training materials say electronic-storage detection dogs are taught to recognize the odor of a chemical used on electronics to help prevent moisture and overheating. Reports say the dogs are trained over about five months, rewarded with food and often stay in service until around age 12.

The Royse City Police Department, based at 1530 E. Hwy 66, serves a city that is growing fast enough to make specialized tools more valuable. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated Royse City’s population at 26,387 on July 1, 2024, up from 13,508 in the 2020 census. In a community that size, a single trained K9 can extend investigators’ reach without adding a large specialty unit.

Tessa also fits into a broader North Texas response to online child exploitation. The ICAC Task Force program was created in 1998, and the North Texas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force was part of Operation Soteria Shield in 2025, a month-long effort aimed at rescuing children from online sexual exploitation and bringing offenders to justice. Police Magazine has reported that electronic-storage detection dogs have found hidden devices underwater and underground, showing how a dog like Tessa can uncover evidence that might otherwise stay buried.