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Absolutely not OK! K9 units are OK used to fabricate "reasonable suspicion" for a search when there is none. It's a component of overpolicing.
by lonelappde 7y ago
Absolutely not OK! K9 units are OK
used to fabricate "reasonable suspicion" for a search when there is none. It's a component of overpolicing.
- jariel 7y agoThis is a little bit of a secondary issue. Every tool can be misapplied or misused. If the 'dogs' can provide a scientifically credible means for 'flagging' that's significantly above random chance, but still below the threshold 'beyond a shadow of a doubt' they can absolutely be used. If a police officer smells the odor of marijuana in the car, or alcohol on the breath, or, for example, sees a crack pipe or 'empty beer' cans - those things are all examples of reasonable suspicion and it's the whole point. That those powers can be abused is again a secondary issue. Finally, is the obvious issue that there's very little harm done otherwise, the 'false flags' from either dogs or 'empty beer' cans that result in searching doesn't compromise the individuals or the community at large: a 'blow test' or a 'legal search' results in more accurate presentation of justice, not less.
- alistairSH 7y agoIf the 'dogs' can provide a scientifically credible means for 'flagging' that's significantly above random chance That's the problem. They cannot. " narcotics-detecting dogs and their handlers aren’t very good at discerning the presence of illegal drugs. Multiple analyses of drug-dog alerts have consistently shown alarmingly high error rates — with some close to and exceeding 50 percent. In effect, some of these K-9 units are worse than a coin flip." https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/02/05/supreme-courts-alternative-facts-about-drug-sniffing-dogs/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/02/05/supreme-c...