Nose Knows: Eagle Scout Project Trains CPD's Bomb Sniffing Dogs

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — An Evergreen Park boy scout is helping his neighbors shed their baggage by collecting their old suitcases for his Eagle Scout project.

Michael Klier, an Eagle candidate with Troop 644, handed off hundreds of suitcases, duffles and wheel luggage to the Chicago Police Department’s public transportation unit Wednesday afternoon. The used luggage will be used to train dogs to track explosive odors.

“We put out a time frame and a date,” Klier said. “The results were nothing short of momentous.”

Old luggage is one thing CPD’s canine handlers are always in short supply of due the frequency of training. Training aids provided by the Transportation Security Administration including explosive materials, electronic devices and chemicals are hidden inside the bags, The luggage needs to be intact with all their people, garage and attic smells to help refine the dogs’ sense of smell.

After the bags have thoroughly been abused, police will shred them since most have residue from training materials.

“We have such a high turnover rate with our bags,” said Officer Bob Gilleran an explosive detection canine handler for the Chicago Police Department. “This is incredible that we’re able to get this many bags for our dogs.”

The Evergreen Park Community High School senior spearheaded the initiative after family friend Tim Kennedy, a CPD officer from Beverly, mentioned the public transportation unit’s dwindling supply of luggage. Kennedy thought it would make a good Eagle project while camping with Klier and his parents.

“We were brainstorming different ways we could get donated luggage. We thought of reaching out to churches, since we aren’t allowed to solicit,” Kennedy said. “The effort that Michael put into it will clearly help us for months and months.”

Klier distributed fliers around the neighborhood and advertised on Facebook his need for donated luggage. This past weekend, Klier and fellow troop members collected the luggage from the porches and steps of homes throughout the neighborhood in contactless pickup.

Stacked from the floor to ceiling in a garage at First Methodist Church of Evergreen Park where Troop 644 meets, were hundreds of bags inside other bags. Some looked like suitcases someone may have hopped a train with during the Depression. There was also assorted, mid-century Samsonite. Klier’s mother, Georgette, described some of the items they found inside the bags.

“One contained vacation brochures from 1972 and seashells,” Georgette Klier said.
“We also found baby pacifiers.”

Klier started scouting as a Tiger in first grade and has worked his way up through scouting’s ranks. He is a fourth-generation boy scout. Klier’s father, Rob, is also an Eagle scout. His grandfather was also an avid scout and his great-grandfather belonged to Chicago’s oldest Boy Scout troop — 608 — and was the city’s first scout to earn an outdoor merit badge.

The Eagle is scouting's highest rank. Scouts must demonstrate service and leadership by earning 23 merit badges before their eighteenth birthday, including badges in community service, citizenship, lifesaving and outdoor skills. Some famous Eagle Scouts include astronaut Neil Armstrong, baseball great Hank Aaron, President Gerald Ford, and documentarian Michael Moore.

While Klier and police officers loaded up the officers’ SUVs and pickup trucks, Gilleran’s K9 partner, Arco, a 9-year-old Belgian Malinois, was already sniffing the pile of luggage.

“He can turn the switch on and off when hes’ working,” Gillerann said. “He’ll be like, ‘okay, you can pet me for a little bit, but now it’s time for me to go work.”

Watch the Facebook Live video of the hand off