Canines in Criminal Justice

To work in the Canine Unit as a police officer would be one of the greatest experiences that law enforcement has to offer. Not only will you be able to assist in criminal drug activity, but you will be apart of putting drug offenders, violent individuals, and gang affiliates in prison. Not to mention, intentionally killing or injuring a police dog is considered a felony in most jurisdictions. (Palmer, Brian, 2008) Giving the community a safe environment to live is one of the most rewarding feelings that a person can have.There are many different types of canine units in law enforcement: Cadaver dogs (Human Remains Trackers), Arson dogs, Search and Rescue dogs (SAR), and Detection / Explosive Sniffing dogs.

The reason law enforcement uses so many different types of dogs is because different dogs have different scents. Like a bloodhound is mostly used for search and rescue and a beagle is mostly used for detection and explosive sniffing. Having different types of dogs doing different tasks in law enforcement is beneficial to the police officers and the dogs.Detection / Explosive Sniffing dogs are generally used for detecting substances carried on a person such as drugs or explosives.

As said earlier, Beagles are mostly used for this task, specifically for airports, to prevent terrorist attacks from recent events such as 9/11. Sniffer dogs have been used to sniff the baggage for items that are not permitted. Since the attacks of 9/11, there have been stricter airport searches and security; the use of beagles has increased mostly in the US. “Beagles are delightful and everyone goes ‘Aw, they’re cute, not so intrusive or scary,” says security expert Bob Ayers.

They are in keeping with the British tradition of policing; non-intrusive and non-threatening unlike Mastiffs or Rottweilers. ” (Geoghegan, Tom, 2005) Another service dog is the Cadaver dog. They are also known as human remains trackers and are trained to detect odor from decaying bodies. These dogs have such sensitive noses they can even detect decomposing bodies from under running water.

Cadaver dogs have special training in the context of disaster scenes and debris can also be to locate human remains following a natural or manmade disaster.Water cadaver dogs are similar to regular cadaver dogs. They both detect human remains except water cadaver dogs have been specifically trained to locate and indicate the source of the odor to assist divers in a more directed and speedy recovery of a drowning victim. Search and Rescue dogs (SAR), along with law enforcement agencies, fire departments, and rescue organizations, are used to locate the missing and return them back home to their families. Search dog teams are a proven lifesaving resource.

A dog’s nose can do better than any other resource such as locating a lost child in the wilderness or missing from their homes, locate drowning victims, follow a patient with Alzheimer’s missing from a nursing home, locate a skier buried in an avalanche, and assist law enforcement with crime scenes. SAR dogs are extremely important to law enforcement; no technology will ever be able to replace. Arson dogs are very interesting because the community does not hear much about these types of service dogs. Labradors are an extremely common breed that is used as an arson dog.Firefighters solve arson fires by using K-9 units that are specially trained to sniff out evidence at the scene of a suspected arson crime.

When firefighters determine causes of fires, sometimes they may have suspicions. Upon suspicions, police become involved and they try to determine the cause of the fire whether it be an accident or started on purpose. Arson dogs help in finding that evidence which would point to crime. Arson dogs are specifically trained to respond to trace amounts of flammable materials such as gas, naphtha, butane, and kerosene which could have been used to start a fire.Arson dogs are more properly known as accelerant-detection dogs, because they search for traces of accelerants which could be used to prove that a fire was due to arson.

Most arson dogs have two different responses for when they identify an accelerant at the site of suspicious fires. When the dogs alert the firefighters, they sit down near the area alerting the handler that a sample should be taken and tested for accelerants. Another way to alert the firefighters is to simply pull the handler with any means possible to the area and then carefully sniff the area where the accelerant is concentrated. (Fire and Rescue 2013)Once a police officer is hired, they are sworn in at a brief ceremony attended by their families and friends. Canines also share this same ceremony except they are celebrating the role of police dogs.

In some cases, the police chief administers the human oath of office to the dog, and then the handler confirms on the dog’s behalf. In rare instances, the dog is trained to bark to confirm the oath. When the ceremony is complete, the dog is presented with a badge to wear on its collar. Dogs are not just right-hand helpers, they are sworn police officers. Shooting a human police officer as well as a police service dog is a crime.