Cade Pendleton
English 2010
Angie Carter
June 14, 2012
Final Research Paper
Man’s Best Friend: Dogs or Technology
A few years ago I had the opportunity to job shadow a canine (k9) officer while he was participating in routine training with his dog. Little did I know, “routine training” meant all police canine officers in Salt Lake County, Utah County, and Davis County would assemble at an abandoned building and practice multiple real life scenarios. As I stood and watched in awe all night, I witnessed a few unsettling scenarios. First, I witnessed dog being released on command to attack a person acting as a criminal. The attack wasn’t the unsettling part about the scenario. What really bothered me was seeing the dog misidentify a fellow police officer as the criminal and attack the officer, who unfortunately was not in a bite suit. A bite suit is protective clothing the trainers wear when training their dogs to attack. Since the officer was not wearing protective gear, he suffered many lacerations and received multiple stiches. As the night continued, I was able to watch another training scenario involving Taser guns or stun guns. Unlike the dog, this technique worked flawlessly. The officer was able to take down the accurate perpetrator in a proficient manner and no fellow officers were injured. On this particular night, there was an accidental injury that doesn’t happen often involving the canine. However, this introduced a couple of questions. Does this happen frequently and do situations like this happen often on the actual job?
In the world of law enforcement, there are many tools used on a daily basis by police officers. A few examples include handcuffs, firearms, pepper spray, batons, radios/walkie-talkies, flashlights, Tasers, radars, LIDAR, and cars/motorcycles. Many of these tools have been around for a very long time, even from the beginning of law enforcement, and have proven to be of great value to the officer. It’s safe to say that many of these tools are a necessity to the officer. There is one tool that is most often over looked, underrated, disrespected, and misconstrued. This tool is the canine and is a great asset to any patrol unit. The canine has helped man from the beginning of time and can be dated as far back as 20,000 years ago (Mesloh 324). In today’s society, what is the effectiveness of police canines in law enforcement, and could they eventually become obsolete or ineffective due to the advancement of technology? These questions hold significant value to those who are considering a career in law enforcement with hopes of becoming a K9 handler. There is a possibility that someday dogs may become obsolete due to technology.
Police K9s get their name because of their protruding sharp teeth located next to the incisor teeth. K9s and humans have been together for the last 20,000 years (Mesloh 324). Research shows that wolves were the first domesticated k9 to assist humans in hunting for food (324). Not only have they assisted in hunting but they were also used to protect their masters (324). Although common dogs are sometimes referred to as canines deriving from the same species, a police K9 is much different from the family pet because of the intense training they must undergo. The keen sense of smell that a K9 possesses is what police attune to their work, placing the dogs in a variety of functions and working tasks. A K9 has such an acute sense of smell that they will most frequently detect substances that are no longer present such as narcotics, guns, and bombs (Green 38). It has been said that dogs are “man’s best friend”; they have become a loyal and dependable asset for police in the detainment and arrest process of suspects, providing effective protection and safety to officers in the line of duty.
In an article titled, "Canine Detectives: The Nose Knows--or Does it?" the author argues that the use of canines in finding or detecting objects by scent is becoming obsolete. He then goes on to claim that the use of canines in court is no longer as valid as it used to be. Canines have been used as strong pieces of evidence in court, with little or no scientific evidence supporting their validity, for a very long time (“Canine Detectives” 1). However, as of late, the canine’s nose and intelligence are being questioned more often. The lack of evidence that canines are just as useful and reliable as they once were is slowly becoming a major problem. Those that strongly believe in the use of canine techniques are concerned with the direction that searching by scent is heading (“Canine Detectives” 1). With technology advancing at an incredible rate, many people think that technology is the only answer to many of their problems. This means that more evidence is required in the courtroom. However, while many people are claiming a dog’s nose is not a reliable source in the courtroom, several doctors and professors are using canines’ olfactory senses to locate and detect cancer in potential cancer patients. Somewhere there is a misunderstanding of how accurate a canines’ nose can really be. Lippi and Gianfranco discuss several cases where dogs have repeatedly sniffed and irritated certain spots on their owners’ bodies that later were identified to have cancer (435). Many dogs have amazing olfactory receptors, meaning their noses can do remarkable things by scent. Lippi states, “Canines are widely used by police forces and civilian services for detecting explosives and drugs due to their superior olfactive apparatus, which is characterized by a detection threshold as low as parts per trillion.”(435). If dogs have a scent threshold as low as parts per trillion, who knows what their limits are? Somewhere between these two articles is a concept that is not being discussed and is being misunderstood. It is hard to convince an audience that canines are a useful tool when there is a contradiction being presented. There are a large number of people who believe dogs are not reliable to society and law enforcement, and then there are doctors who believe dogs can detect cancer in patients. There needs to be some more research and evidence to show how effective canines are to society, more specifically how valuable they are to law enforcement, and what the limitations and expectations are. If people were not so caught up in the uses of technology in this day and age, the use of a canine in law enforcement would be much more appreciated. These two articles both present a use for canines but one disagrees with it while the other supports it. Although some argue that canines are no longer valid sources of evidence in the courtroom compared to new technologies, they are still useful in many aspects of law enforcement. The effectiveness of the special police units called K9 is just as, or more, useful as technology can sometimes be.
Police have been using dogs in their patrol and investigation forces, including narcotics, SWAT, (tactical), and even homicide to apprehend criminals and detect criminal evidence successfully for over two decades. Since the early 1980’s, German Shepherds and various other dog breeds have been used to bring chases and arrest successfully to an end (Savage 38). Hargreaves states that Dutch police have been training dog handlers for police departments throughout the world since 1919(14). The dog handler is a specially trained police officer that must go through intensive additional training with the K9. This only occurs after the person applies and gets accepted into a special police unit. Usually, the officer must first show strong interest in working with these dogs and should already exhibit excellent proficiency as a patrolman.
Deployment of dogs as crime fighters has led to the arrest of criminals wanted for serious felonies such as homicide and drug trafficking. A K9 named Yogi, with an above average success rate, has had phenomenal results with tracking and identifying criminals. In Colorado courts, Special Agent Hargreaves, who serves in the Office of International Training, and Drug Enforcement Administration in Quantico, Virginia, exclaimed Yogi has identified over 25 criminal suspects and has nearly a 100% conviction rate (14). Hargreaves expresses, the Bloodhound Yogi’s accomplishments as follows, “Yogi's resume is impressive: 4 kidnapping cases (2 convictions, 2 pending prosecution), 45 homicides (sending 14 murderers to prison), and 350 other cases (with only 1 acquittal)”(14). This is one of many examples of a K9 that has been used effectively on the street to help reduce crime. Previously it was stated that the sense of smell, or scent identification and tracking, are the primary tools used by a K9 unit in conjunction with an effective working dog handler to locate specific types of evidence police are looking for. A dog’s sense of smell is so much greater than that of a human; people have very little capacity to identify with their capabilities except through the use of working dogs. In fact, a trained K9 dog has a sense of smell that is thousands of times greater than their human police partner (Hargreaves 15). Scent can come from a variety of different places such as narcotics, oils, skin particles, chemicals, ammunition powders, and other sources. The potency of a scent can be greatly impacted being either enhanced or reduced do to a variety of time altered or environmental factors. During controlled training sessions, a K9 will consistently pick up on items used as training aids that were previously at a location but no longer present (Green 38). This means that the odors of substances such as marijuana, or plastic explosives leave trace amounts of scent behind after removed from a particular area. Testing for the K9 is done in an environment that is as close as it gets to the outside world where things such as temperature, moisture, weather, and also other distractions such as food, are often used to better simulate the street. To get a clearer understanding of scent detection accuracy, Green states, “Depending on time, location, and the components of that location (porous/nonporous surfaces), atmospheric conditions, and numerous other factors, the level of odor absorption and length of odor retention will vary greatly.” (38).
Our bodies are naturally always decaying leaving behind dead skin cells, sweat, and various gases. When a human walks on the grass for example, organic traces are being displaced at a significant rate during travel creating chemical reactions with the ground surfaces (Mesloh and James-Mesloh 537). Fibers from clothing may contain scents of cologne, perfume, sweat or perhaps crab legs that a suspect had for dinner. Some substances such as skin and sweat may degrade within less than a day’s time and may not be detectable to most dogs (Mesloh and James-Mesloh 537). Oils of the body of a suspect usually last longer and break down at a much slower rate. This means that an area can be searched beyond one day, and a canine unit brought in the next day or so has a greater chance for a criminal apprehension (Mesloh and James-Mesloh, 537). With advancements in law enforcement including K9 units, reliable submission of DNA evidence and the constant upgrading of training procedures available now, criminals have a much more difficult time getting away with crime. A suspect or missing person can be tracked for miles or days after the initial victimization. Drugs can be seized by the faintest odor, deeply hidden in vehicles or other solid-sound compartments wherever a competent K9 unit may locate them.
A case involving a burglary suspect who had stolen a ring and later confessed to detectives of his crime had been solved with the use of a K9 unit search. The felon tossed the stolen ring in a large field and police searched for the item several times by hand and also metal detectors. As a last attempt the police summoned a K9 unit to search the property for the ring after twelve long days. A German Shepherd later recovered the stolen jewelry with the detection of a human scent embedded on the surface of the ring. This was the longest period of time on record that a K9 was successful in search and recovery of an item (Mesloh and James-Mesloh 537). The incredible ability for the nose of an animal to surmount a machine like a metal detector is truly amazing. Another example of an efficient K9 duty showcases the ability of dogs to track victims and perpetrators for miles. In Colorado, special agent Hargreaves, who serves in the Office of International Training and Drug Enforcement Administration, describes how a K9 tracked a five-year-old girl by scent for 14 miles, after searching for 7 hours from where her kidnapping had first occurred (14). She was found only a mile from where the dog initially tracked her scent (14). The next day after surveying the area where the body was found the suspect was apprehended in a nearby apartment building (14). Solved cases like the instances described give hope to our public safety, law enforcement, and criminal justice communities. Since K9 units are so versatile and effective, the greater appearance of them may deter criminals from trying to commit crimes for fear of being caught.
One of the greatest aspects of a dog is that it can have a positive influence on a child’s self esteem (Lang, Mia E., and Terry Klassen 313). However, they can also bring the presence of fear to many criminals. The presence of a k9 in a certain situation can make a person act different way. Matthew Dunn and Louisa Degenhardt performed a study pertaining to the presence of dogs at a concert where regular ecstasy users (REU) were using and distributing drugs. Ecstasy is a prescribed drug teenagers are using illegally to get high. Dunn and Degenhardt state, “The present study sought to review the use of drug detection dogs in Sydney. It has been argued that detection dogs serve as a visual deterrent to drug use.” (661). Their study proved to be a success in some areas of drug related issues, but showed that not all drug offenders take precaution when being around k9s. The study showed that REUs do not view drug detection dogs as a concern when being in the same proximity as them (Dunn and Degenhardt 662). The study also showed that drug detection dogs detect the user and consumer rather than the drug supplier (662). During the process of this study Dunn and Degenhardt often times state that many people complained about the dogs invading upon citizen’s rights.
Questions have risen about the use of K9 units suggesting they may be intrusive of citizen’s rights or applying excessive force to criminals. Many people think that a dog searching the parameter of a vehicle or sniff searching a human body is an invasion of privacy. While there are heat thermal tools that can search a suspect’s vehicle or home by detecting abnormal amounts of heat coming from a house, they cannot determine what is the source of the heat (Hunt 321). However, k9s are trained to recognize certain narcotics, which may be the cause of the heat (321). Part of the cause for this is inherent in our Democratic society that criminals are innocent until proven guilty in a court system. Protecting the rights of criminals to the extent that it is done in today’s world of a more liberal viewpoint may endanger common law abiding citizens. People feel that they can do whatever they please with no consequences for their reactions. Trainers and police administrators of K9 programs should understand and be familiarized with laws as they pertain to the specifics of the dog (Green 39). One case of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco was examined when allegations of excessive force were brought up on the unit involved. Running from a bank robbery, Ronald Mendoza was ferociously attacked and bitten by a dog deployed by the Los Angeles Police Department (Savage 38). “The appellate court had little trouble affirming the dismissal of Mendoza's lawsuit alleging use of excessive force by the police ’Using a police dog to find Mendoza, and to secure him until he stopped struggling and was handcuffed, was objectively reasonable under the circumstances,’ the court ruled” (38). Aggressive dog bites are one of the few problems canine handlers have to deal with in which they have no control over.
Dog bites happen frequently, not just in law enforcement, and can cause serious harm. Lang, Mia E., and Terry Klassen did a study showing characteristics of dog bites in children and the way the children were treated in the hospital. They stated, “In total, 302 dog bites were identified. Of these, 15 that involved police dogs were excluded, resulting in a study population of 287 cases.” (310). This shows that dog bites happen quite often, and don’t happen in law enforcement as often as people think.
A case where a suspect, who was armed and dangerous, running from the police and hiding out in an abandoned warehouse, ended in the suspect being violently bitten by a K9 (Savage 38). The officer deployed his dog to find the armed perpetrator in the building for his own safety and possibly the safety of others. It was found that, since deaths are not common in police dog cases, sending out dogs does not constitute deadly force according to Robinette, the 6th Circuit (Savage 38). Further established by Savage "This is a case where an officer was forced to explore an enclosed unfamiliar area in which he knew a man was hiding," the court noted. "Under the totality of the circumstances, [the officer] was justified in using whatever force was necessary, even deadly force, to protect himself … and to apprehend the suspect." Self-defense is a justified plea in a situation like that one (39). No greater cause can come out of the use of any means to protect innocent bystanders from acts of violence threatening their life and health. A convincing validation of effective and rightful force used by dogs was noted by Savage “Courts have not been any more sympathetic to those suspects being sought for minor crimes who have been badly bitten by police dogs.”(39).
K9 units are a highly effective tool utilized by the police in order to better handle investigations, find missing persons, locate explosives and narcotics and most importantly, to offer protection while apprehending or arresting dangerous suspects. K9 units serve an important effective role in society in the fight against crime. Police who have been trained to utilize this special skill should be commended for their honor and perseverance. Canines have and will continue to provide man with a valuable friend and counterpart. K9s should and will be used for many years to come. Technology should not be overlooked when it comes to assisting law enforcement; however, K9s will always be of value in their own unique way. K9s will always be able to aid law enforcement in ways technology cannot, therefore they should not be overlooked.

Works Cited
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