TUCSON, Ariz. — An essential part of the Tucson Police Department is working to solve a growing problem in a new way.
Zona, the electronics detection K9 and her handler have written a children's book to help you talk to your kids about staying safe online.
Zona is trained to sniff out a chemical used in making electronics, and she's become an extremely effective asset in helping the department find and arrest child predators.
"She looks for anything that can store transmit data, such as hard drives, cell phones, micro SD cards, hidden cameras, tracking devices, USB flash drives, you name it. If it can store data, she can find it," explained Gayle Warren. She's a digital forensic examiner with Tucson Police, and together the two of them mostly work with the department's Internet Crimes Against Children Unit.
Warren says all too often, they're seeing kids trading inappropriate photos of themselves for online gaming money, not realizing how dangerous that can be.
"Wherever your kids are at, the predators are going," Warren said. "They're looking for kids. And so whether it's Roblox or Minecraft, these kids are vulnerable."
That's why she's using her unique position to do something.
"When I started doing this with Zona, I found we were able to go in and talk to kids and teens, and they want to meet this sweet dog, and they are all online. And I realized we can't stop going online. we can't take tell our kids, 'Nope, you can't go online. You can't be on a digital device,'" Warren explained. "So how can we teach them to be safe?"
Now, the literary Zona is spreading the same message in their new children's book, Zona's Lab Report: The Birthday Suit Dispute.
In it, three girls find themselves talking to a predator online, who wants a photo in their "birthday suit." They realize it's wrong, but send one in a bathing suit. They later tell their parents and police. Zona actually finds the predator's phone in a shoe, much like she has before in real life.
Through adorable illustrations and funny commentary from Zona, the book tackles layers of lessons. It also includes talking points, tips and questions for parents to get the conversation started.
"I want you to be the little girl in this story who says, 'Oh, my mom says, "That's not okay. Our bodies are private. They're not meant to be shared."' So we start talking to kids like, use your intuition. Start remember the Spidey senses, the hair on the back of the neck, the goosebumps, like something feels wrong."
Much like Zona's ability to bridge the gap as a therapy dog when needed, this book aims to do that for families, encouraging kids and parents to speak up.
"I want them to feel comfortable and confident to come to us, and I want parents to be brave," said Warren. "While it's hard content for parents to talk about, it's like, how can I make it so you can be brave and have a conversation?"
That conversation could be the thing that someday protects them.
"For me personally, I would have been talking to my kids about this by age seven," Warren said. "So I would do that all the way up through our pre-teens and early teens. Because obviously it's a picture book, but the message is still super relevant for them and what they're doing and what they're looking at."
You can get a copy of Zona's Lab Report: The Birthday Suit Dispute online from Amazon, Walmart, or Barnes & Nobel. Warren is also working to get it into local libraries soon.
Claire Graham is an anchor and reporter for Good Morning Tucson on KGUN 9. She grew up in Tucson and graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in musical theatre. Claire spent a decade in Washington state, but she's thrilled to be back home in the beautiful southwest with her husband, two young sons and two rescued dogs. Share your story ideas and important issues with Claire by emailing claire.graham@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and X.
