Interesting article out of the Chicago Court of Appeals.
US court says drug-sniffing dog fails the smell test
US court says drug-sniffing dog fails the smell test
This is appawling.
Yes, there will probably be reduction in collaring of lawbreakers as a result.
Officer Chompy creates false positives which act as the magic necessary to search cars where none is present? Huh, go figure, who ever complains about that?
Well there is always the possibility of a "Clever Hans" effect going on here. Some animals pick up on subtle muscle cues. If a certain human behavior indicates a Scooby Snack is available contingent a canine behavior, then false positives can happen. This does not need to be intentional by the officer/trainer. It can also result from poorly timed reinforcement during training.
Anway here's Hans. He got fed after getting the "right " answer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clever_Hans
Clever Hans phenomenon - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com
Who would have thought that praising dogs for finding drugs might cause them to find non-existent drugs. This could not have been predicted.
Drug dogs hunt for their own reward, they don't need praise, regardless many police abuse their doggy powers, a good dog won't make many false indications, but a lot of officers will say their dog indicated when they clearly did not, officers lie, dogs dont
So can we question officers who use their sense of smell for probable cause.
Yes, but I want to know which officer testified under oath that he magically evolved the ability to smell pills as was told to me that a dog had experienced.
The dogs are stalking horses, we all know it. Let us insist on a greater standard for the dogs--video tape the searches and make them keep batting averages.
Why do you hate police officers?
Are the dogs effective? We don't know. Let's start writing stuff down. You remember Reason and Science, right? Let's use those.