Meet Ingrid, the Plainfield Police Department's K9 officer: What does she do?

If you ever run into Plainfield Police Officer Kyle Sutcliffe, you will most likely see Ingrid right by his side.

Ingrid, a 2-and-a-half year old yellow lab, is the K9 assigned to Sutcliffe. One of two police dogs used by the Plainfield Police Department, she has been an asset since joining them nearly a year ago.

Ingrid’s heightened sense of smell has helped Plainfield Police locate illegal drugs.

“There’s a lot of times where we can’t get into a vehicle or develop probable cause on our own,” Sutcliffe said regarding narcotics detection dogs like Ingrid. “But the dog’s nose is so strong, so if something’s hidden, the dog can detect it and then they’ll alert to it, which gives us probable cause to search that person or that vehicle.”

Ingrid’s sense of smell came in handy on Jan. 1, 2024. She was able to discover drug paraphernalia and crack cocaine in a car, which led to the arrest of a Plainfield woman.

Outside of work, Ingrid is part of the Sutcliffe family in Brooklyn.

“I got two young kids at home. She’s very friendly with them,” Sutcliffe said. “We got two other labs at home. She loves going home, playing, hanging out with the family. Being a normal dog.”

Ingrid started out as a guide dog for the blind

Ingrid was initially going to be a guide dog for the blind. When that did not work out, Connecticut State Police traveled to one of the Guiding Eyes for the Blind campuses to pick dogs capable of serving as police dogs.

“They go and test out hundreds of dogs to go and see which ones would be a good fit as a police dog,” Sutcliffe said.

After Sutcliffe picked Ingrid up in March 2023, she lived with him as a pet until her training began in July. Ingrid participated in a six-week training at the Connecticut State Police K9 Unit where she learned to detect the scent of illegal narcotics. Following the initial training, each of the K9 handlers participated in a six-week training with their dogs. Ingrid graduated from the program in October 2023.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Plainfield Police K9 Ingrid locates illegal drugs including cocaine