MSI’s work in Jamaica with the police recently took on an interesting twist. While search and rescue dogs have been in the news, such as those used to recover bodies from the rubble in Haiti, MSI was recently asked to help identify and send to the country cadaver search dogs, following a riot between police and a high-profile gang. These dogs are bringing some peace of mind to families who otherwise might not know the whereabouts of their missing loved ones.

"The operation using the dogs was successful. And we believe that starting a program to train our own sniffer dogs would only help to boost the local authorities’ capability," Assistant Commissioner of Police Les Green told the Jamaican Observer in June.

Sprint and Recon, a Labrador and golden retriever, were sent into Tivoli Gardens where a local drug cartel had long operated and, police suspected, had buried missing bodies through the course of years.

“The government of Jamaica asked USAID for dogs [because] people were dying in the neighborhood and were mysteriously buried,” MSI Project Manager Liz Freudenberger said. “Medical examiners were trying to find time of death. There were suspicions that people died before police went in to the neighborhood.”

Freudenberger hired American K-9 Detection Services, Inc. and dog handlers Hilda Wood and Melissa Ellis who accompany the dogs on their search, train them and ensure their half-hour union breaks for every half-hour of work.

“A lot of people might think it’s depressing to search for dead people, but I believe that no matter whom it is they should get a proper burial,” Wood said. “You always want to help families of the victims recover their loved ones.”

The dogs searched for two weeks and were promoted to expand their search into the neighborhoods of West Kingston and Rasta City, where they located a body that police said appeared to have been shot. The canine’s also found a number of shallow graves and potential bones.

Christopher Coke, the neighborhood’s drug lord, was captured following a three-day police-gang gun battle on June 22.

The Jamaican police have since committed to training dogs of their own to carry out future searches.

MSI has been working in Jamaica since 2003, with the Jamaican Ministry of National Security to produce strategies in reducing gangs. It has also worked with the police force to aid in building relationships with the community and becoming proactive in crime prevention.