At a morning press conference held at the Oneida County…

At a morning press conference held at the Oneida County Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Robert Maciol introduced the newest member of the Sheriff's Office K9 Unit.

K9 "Billie", an English Black Lab, is an Electronics Storage Detection canine assigned to the Sheriff's Office Road Patrol Division. Billie is trained to find cell phones, tablets, laptops, USB drives, SD cards, and other electronic storage devices. The chemical that Billie is trained to locate is Triphenylphosphine Oxide (TPPO), a substance that is part of all electronic devices. Billie is also currently in training to track lost or missing people.

Billie was originally born in the Netherlands and purchased from Vohneliche Kennels in Denver, Indiana. Billie was purchased with funding graciously provided by WB Payne Co. Inc. of Boonville, New York and Tolpa's Auto Parts in Remsen, New York. Both businesses were presented with plaques in recognition of their significant contributions that made Billie's arrival possible. Billie is named after both Bill Tolpa, owner of Tolpa's Auto Parts and two William Payne's that are & were part of the WB Payne Family.

Billie recently celebrated her 1st birthday this past July 4th and she is assigned to Deputy Thomas R. Bronson of the Sheriff's Office Road Patrol Division. So far in her career, Billie has taken part in several search warrants, including one with our Sheriff's Office along with ones in both Oswego County and Otsego County- in which Billie found three cell phones that contained images that put a sexual predator back in jail that was on parole for a previous offense.