SALT LAKE CITY — The latest addition to the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has four legs, a furry face and boundless energy.
Jaisa is so cute it’s easy to forget she’s a highly trained, incredibly effective crime fighter. She's a nearly 3-year-old British Lab that's fully certified and a perfect example of why K9's are used in law enforcement.
As an explosives detection K9, Jaisa and her handler, Special Agent Daniel Forster, are part of SEEK or Search Enhanced Evidence K9 team. She’s trained on approximately 19,000 different odors, which includes six different families of explosives.
"Their noses are anywhere from one to ten million times stronger than ours," Forster explained. "They can scent discriminate, separate all the different odors out. So at the end of the day, they can do something that there’s just no way for a human being to do and in some cases not even technology, we can’t even fully explain it.”
Forester said it's tough to put into words the undeniable bond between him and Jaisa.
“We talk about, in K9 handling that energy goes up and down the leash. So if I’m having a bad day, it starts going down the leash and vice versa. So very much we work together," he explained.
Forster and Jaisa are based out of the Salt Lake City ATF office but are part of the larger, Denver field division which covers Utah, Colorado, Montana and Wyoming. Their assignment could change at any day and a moment's notice to help other areas around the West.
“I might be here in Salt Lake City, I might be attached to the ATF, but our mission is to provide our service, this highly trained dog to everyone,” Forster said.
The dynamic duo is also assigned to high-profile events that require extra security.
“We’re slated to go to the Super Bowl, which is down in Las Vegas," Forster said. "We go on search warrants, dignitary protective details. When President Biden came here a couple of months ago, we were on the security detail.”
When the workday is done, this highly trained, athletic police K9 transforms back into a cuddly pup who goes home with Agent Forster and is part of his family.
“I think that it’s the best job in the world, I mean look at my partner," Forster laughed. "Nothing but love, it’s very rewarding!”
