Forensics

NYPD to use secret weapon at Thanksgiving Day Parade: 'Vapor Wake' retrievers

The NYPD is doubling down on a new breed of security to defend the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade: an elite team of Labrador retrievers specially trained to detect explosives on roving targets in large crowds.

The dogs have completed the 18-month patent-pending "Vapor Wake" training program, which was developed at Auburn University's College of Veterinary Medicine.

Unlike normal bomb-sniffing dogs, which are adept at identifying explosives in stationary objects such as trash cans, Vapor Wake dogs keep their noises up and look for mobile threats.

The Labradors are dialed into the "thermal plumes left behind in a person's wake," Paul Hammond, the president of Vapor Wake training program VWK9 LLC, told Rolling Stone.

The dogs, which are trained to avoid the distractions of large crowds and loud noises typical of large events, can sense explosive particles and even firearm residue in this wake, Wired reported.