A study in Illinois suggests that police dogs used in stops to determine whether a vehicle has drugs or other contraband resulted in those contraband being in the vehicle only 27% of the time.
This means that 73% of the time, police alleges that the dog made a positive hit on a vehicle; citizens’ rights are being abrogated.
The dogs’ efficacy is actually worse than a coin flip which is a 50 – 50 chance.
Yet police are allowed to continue pretextual stops and work around the fourth amendment to the US constitution.
Experts concerned about this practice have had seasoned dog trainers observe videos in which police use canines to determine whether to search a vehicle, and those trainers have indicated time, and again they saw clear indications that a dog was being cued to alert.
Experts concerned about this practice have had seasoned dog trainers observe videos in which police use canines to determine whether to search a vehicle, and those trainers have indicated time, and again they saw clear indications that a dog was being cued to alert.
This leaves the motorist at the mercy of these corrupt officers who, in many cases, plant drugs where there was none and ruin the lives of the people they do not like.
Writing for WashingtonPost.com on February 4th, 2019, Radley Balko wrote; 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.
Balko wrote; While dogs are indeed capable of sniffing out illicit drugs, we’ve bred into them another overriding trait: the desire to please. Even drug dogs with conscientious handlers will read their handlers’ unintentional body language and be alert accordingly. Then, many drug dogs are not alerting to drugs but their handlers’ suspicions about the presence of drugs.
Add law enforcement racial animus toward Black people into the mix, and driving on the streets becomes dangerous for people of color in America.
Balko wrote; While dogs are indeed capable of sniffing out illicit drugs, we’ve bred into them another overriding trait: the desire to please. Even drug dogs with conscientious handlers will read their handlers’ unintentional body language and be alert accordingly. Then, many drug dogs are not alerting to drugs but their handlers’ suspicions about the presence of drugs.
Add law enforcement racial animus toward Black people into the mix, and driving on the streets becomes dangerous for people of color in America.
Police continued abuse of citizens of color in the United States is enhanced by the US Supreme Court out of touch with reality rulings that continue to give police end-runs around the US Constitution to abuse the rights of citizens of color.
In his 2019 article Radley Balko cited numerous cases where the USSupreme Court appeared unmindful of the harm police is doing to innocent Americans even in the face of mounting evidence that in most cases where dogs cue to drugs in a vehicle searches turns up nothing illegal. The court seemed incurious about important matters such as how often the certification organization fails a K‑9 team? Who determines whether the K‑9 unit passes?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/02/05/supreme-courts-alternative-facts-about-drug-sniffing-dogs/My friend told me his young son; a Medical student drove from Kentuck, where he attends school to the Hudson Valley, New York, to spend Christmas with the family.
In his 2019 article Radley Balko cited numerous cases where the USSupreme Court appeared unmindful of the harm police is doing to innocent Americans even in the face of mounting evidence that in most cases where dogs cue to drugs in a vehicle searches turns up nothing illegal. The court seemed incurious about important matters such as how often the certification organization fails a K‑9 team? Who determines whether the K‑9 unit passes?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/02/05/supreme-courts-alternative-facts-about-drug-sniffing-dogs/My friend told me his young son; a Medical student drove from Kentuck, where he attends school to the Hudson Valley, New York, to spend Christmas with the family.
I had an immediate panic attack; I have known the young man since he was really young. My concern was not that he would have any problems with robbers or any other criminals, but the dangers he faced from police who will use any pretext to pull over a young man of color, escalate the stop into violence which usually results in the person of color dead at the hands of police.
The US Supreme Court and lower Federal Court’s intransigence on maintaining a police state regardless of the consequences on some citizens have rendered drugs dogs a sure hit because police and the courts say they are reliable.
Balko’s article describes police dogs as a search warrant on a leash.
Police do as they please simply by calling canines and their handlers to do the end-run around the fourth amendment to the constitution. Don’t bother looking to the courts for redress; for the courts, the constitution means nothing as long as states and municipalities have the ability to seize property and illegally keep it.
It is not about law enforcement; it is about illegally stripping property from people of color and allowing police to keep those monies and valuables…
Your constitutional rights are of no consequence to the courts.
Balko’s article describes police dogs as a search warrant on a leash.
Police do as they please simply by calling canines and their handlers to do the end-run around the fourth amendment to the constitution. Don’t bother looking to the courts for redress; for the courts, the constitution means nothing as long as states and municipalities have the ability to seize property and illegally keep it.
It is not about law enforcement; it is about illegally stripping property from people of color and allowing police to keep those monies and valuables…
Your constitutional rights are of no consequence to the courts.
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Mike Beckles is a former Police Detective, businessman, freelance writer, black achiever honoree, and creator of the blog mikebeckles.com.