With more than 230 million scent receptors (40 times the number of a human nose), K9 Officer Ca$h is more than a police dog; he’s a determined detective that can track a smell through any terrain to locate a missing child, a wandering senior, a criminal suspect or a lost hiker.

Ca$h has worked as a bloodhound for the Sandy Police Department since 2019 and has been partnered with SPD Officer Graham Tinius since April 2024. 

“I’ve been a cop for 21 years and always wanted to be a K9 officer, but it just never happened,” Tinius said. “When Ca$h became available, I jumped at the opportunity. He’s just a goofball. He’s a bloodhound, so it’s not the most common dog to see in law enforcement. Most officers have German Shepherds or Belgian Malinois. Ca$h is just a big, wrinkly, slobbery mess.”

Despite his goofball appearance, Ca$h is the best tracker on the force. He isn’t a cadaver dog, so he doesn’t find dead bodies, but his ability to smell for live human odors is exemplary. He can track a person’s path or even find an item they dropped along the way, like a baseball cap or wallet.

Sandy Police Department Homeless Liaison Officer Graham Tinius and K9 Officer Ca$h work to find missing or lost persons. As a bloodhound, Ca$h is a valuable asset to the police force. (Photos courtesy of Tinius)

He’s not trained to attack, unlike other K9 officers, because his job isn’t to apprehend a suspect. Unlike his pointy-eared counterparts, floppy-eared Ca$h doesn’t even realize biting is an option. 

“He’s just a sweetheart,” Tinius said. “When it comes to the use of police dogs, there’s a lot of constitutional case law that says when you can and cannot deploy a dog because of the potential for an injury. You wouldn’t be able to deploy a traditionally-trained German Shepherd on a missing child or a missing dementia patient, or even a low-level crime like a shoplifter because of the potential for injury. Well, Ca$h doesn’t bite people. I can deploy him on any lost person, any person who flees from the police department, even lower-level crimes that the pointy-eared dogs can’t deploy on.”

Tinius and Ca$h hang out 24 hours a day, with the dog following Tinius from room to room when they’re off duty. They run errands together and have lots of one-sided conversations, so Ca$h gets used to the sound of Tinius’s voice. 

Once a week, the five K9 officers in the SPD train together for an entire shift. During individual training, Tinius hides his keys or wallet or phone in different locations and tells Ca$h to find it. The bloodhound usually tracks down the items in less than 10 minutes. 

Tinius also works as a homeless liaison officer, serving as a bridge between unhoused individuals and community services. He and Ca$h are often seen in Sandy doing police work, waiting for the chance to track someone.

“He loves to work. If I get out of the car, he immediately sits up in the back seat. If I move my seat forward, he gets excited because that’s where his deployment equipment is located, like his leash and harness,” Tinius said. “If he knows that we’re going to track someone, he gets very excited. He loves working. He loves doing his job. 

“But when he’s not working, he’s the most relaxed dog ever. He doesn’t run circles in the back of my truck and bark. He just curls up like a little cinnamon roll and sleeps in the backseat.”

With only a handful of bloodhound K9 officers in Salt Lake County, Ca$h is a valuable resource in the department. His unique ability to track criminals or locate lost individuals makes him a significant asset, with an important role to play.

“The way that these dogs can detect odor that has been on the ground for several hours and use that ability to track people who may have memory issues or developmental disabilities or are prone to wandering or getting lost on their way home, I think it’s a wonderful tool,” Tinius said. “I’m glad that the Sandy Police Department has that with Ca$h.”