Ammo For Sale

« « In fast and furious news | Home | Flash in the pan » »

K9 drug alerts: kind of bogus

Seems like this should be big news:

The complaint alleges that the drug-sniffing dogs used by troopers in the program were intentionally being trained to operate as so-called trick ponies, or dogs that provide officers false alerts for the presence of drugs.

The dogs were being trained to alert their handlers by cues, instead of by picking up a drug’s scent by sniffing, the complaint said. When a dog gives a false alert, this resulted in illegal searches and seizures, including money and property, the complaint said.

14 Responses to “K9 drug alerts: kind of bogus”

  1. BobS Says:

    Um, Unc. The link goes to something about NRA bashing.

  2. Bryan S. Says:

    Think this is the link he was intending.. or at least similar: http://privateofficernews.wordpress.com/2012/06/27/nevada-highway-patrol-troopers-sue-over-bogus-k-9-program-www-privateofficer-com/

  3. Jim Says:

    Very old news.

    ANY handler can give his dog a double hand pump and an emphatic, “Sook!” and get a “hit.” Plus, some of the dogs want the yellow ball so bad that they will constantly lie. A good handler can tell the difference in the head whip and instant ass to grass of a good hit versus the slow sit or scratching with an over the shoulder look of a lying dog.

  4. Tom O'B Says:

    this seems to be the article:
    http://www.8newsnow.com/story/18886948/nhp-troopers-sue-department-over-k-9-program

  5. Jim Says:

    What I forgot to say is that this is pretty standard across the country. Cop wants to search your car and has time to wait? He calls K9, lets them produce a hit, and then tosses your car for having the temerity to make him get a legal excuse to search.

  6. Jack Says:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clever_Hans

  7. Divemedic Says:

    This was proven in a study over a year ago.
    http://blog.norml.org/2011/02/04/drug-dogs-false-alert-over-200-times-in-uc-davis-study/

  8. Jake Says:

    Unfortunately, the courts are willing to take the handler’s word for it no matter how well the dog is shown to perform – even if flipping a coin would be just as accurate.

    Green’s lawyer had argued that Bono’s track record — drugs were found just 22 times out of 85 “alerts” by the dog — was so poor that police lacked probable cause to search Green’s SUV.
    […]
    But after learning that Bono had an accuracy rate of just 26 percent, Cargill filed a motion seeking to suppress the evidence.
    […]
    In some cases where nothing was found after an alert by Bono, police later determined that drugs had been in the vehicle earlier, likely leaving an odor the dog was trained to detect, Neese said.

    Taking those cases into account, Conrad found that Bono’s accuracy rate was at least 50 percent.
    […]
    However, the judge ruled that other factors, including the dog’s training and flawless performance during re-certification sessions, were enough to overcome a challenge raised by Green’s attorney

    An accuracy rate of 50% is still enough for probable cause, because he did okay in training. Why bother with the dog? A quarter can do just as well, and costs a whole lot less!

  9. Braden Lynch Says:

    I used to think that dogs were good for this, but I now realize I was a fool. If you make the police mad enough to send for a drug-sniffing K-9 unit they might be inclined to plant evidence if they don’t get a real hit. At a minimum, they may discover unrelated illegal items on this fishing expedition which is problematic in relation to the 4th Amendment.

    I always want to think the best of the police, but this resource is quite ripe for abuse.

    Sending a dog in to chew on a perp who won’t come out of a barricaded position seems like a better use for them. Of course, we do have tear gas for that too, so maybe we can just forgo the canine contribution.

  10. TIM Says:

    Couldnt they be held liable if they tear a vehicle apart and find nothing on a so called bogus dog hit.

  11. somejerk Says:

    Police have been using dogs this way for decades now. Pro tip:

    Police lie. Always.

  12. Justthisguy Says:

    No human should be deprived of even an atom of his property, nor even one millisecond of liberty, nor suffer the tiniest discomfort, as a consequence of an event which happens in the mind of a dog.

    Further, as much as I hate Bill Sherman and all of his troops, they did get one thing right; they killed every dog they found which was bred and trained to go after humans. In that case it was bloodhounds. I would not bother bloodhounds, but would do away with Doberman Pinschers, Rottweilers, and German Police Dogs (miscalled German Shepherds for PR reasons).

    Note that the latter three breeds were all bred by Germans. Like Alvin York, I don’t care for Germans even when they are not being Nazis. Hell, I don’t like Weimaraners, and they are just a German’s idea of a (ugly) bird dog. Remember, men, wogs begin at Calais!

    I would also set up a shelter for homeless Bull Terriers.

  13. Justthisguy Says:

    P.s. I think I could get along with an English Mastiff. Dogs are properly bred for behavior, not appearance. There are demonstrated statistical tendencies of differing kinds of behavior among differing human populations, which I betcha will breed dogs with personalities and behavior compatible with their own.

  14. Justthisguy Says:

    P.p.s. I think we ought to breed ourselves for behavior, too. Look how well that worked out for the Jews, with their IQ bell curve skewed to the right.

    This is why I believe arranged marriages are generally a good thing, and why I think those silly children Romeo and Juliet rightly deserved their deaths. It was a damn shame they got all of those good men killed with their silly mutual infatuation.

Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you.

Uncle Pays the Bills

Find Local
Gun Shops & Shooting Ranges


bisonAd

Categories

Archives