GASTONIA, N.C. — The newest four-legged member of the Gastonia Police Department got his start late in 2023, but has already helped his fellow officers make not one, not two, but three successful tracks.
Bo joined the force in October 2023. He's a 10-month-old bloodhound born in Kentucky, described as an 8th-generation "man-tracker" with the perfect nose for the job. One of his first tracks was on Oct. 4, when he helped officers locate a missing elderly man. Bo traced the man's scent by checking out a pillowcase, finding the man just blocks away.
In November, a missing child was reported and Bo jumped into action. Just like the elderly man the month before, the 105-pound bloodhound picked up the child's scent after sniffing a pillowcase. The boy was safely found in a Gastonia neighborhood.
What makes this K-9 so special is his ability to sniff for scents. Sergeant David Rowland works with Bo. He said, “Bo’s nose here unlocks that tool for us and unlocks that capability both can track since up to 12 days old.”
Bo also handled his first criminal track on Dec. 28, when police responded to a reported robbery of a DoorDash driver. Bo got the suspect's scent, leading police through heavy foot traffic and other distractions right to a residence. Police said two suspects were found inside along with the stolen property, and they were charged with common law strong-arm robbery.
The department says bloodhounds like Bo have incredible scent-tracking skills thanks to the roughly 230 million olfactory cells in their noses. For comparison, we humans have only 5 million. Plus, bloodhounds can follow scent trails that are more than 300 hours old.
Bo rounds out Gastonia PD's K9 unit, which comprises seven dogs and their seven handlers. Bo is the only bloodhound in the unit, and his fellow four-legged officers include a Dutch Shepard, three Belgian Malinois, and two German Shepherds.
The cost of obtaining Bo was about $5,000, and he was bought and donated to the department by the Jimmy Ryce Center. The department pays for his care cost, which is about $2,000 per year. Bo lives with Sgt. David Rowland, who also heads the K9 unit. He's been with the unit since the end of 2015.