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Title:  Courts have long seen K-9 dogs as impartial. Now police bodycams hold them accountable

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF52AnWEjAw&t=91s

Source: NPR

Date:  08 June 2023 

Summary: Body camera footage is forcing people to reconsider whether drug-sniffing dogs are impartial

Situation:

1.  For decades, American courts have presumed that drug-sniffing dogs were impartial as supported by training records and proper credentialing by local K-9 organization
2. However, body camera footage is now causing people to rethink the impartiality of these dogs, as evidenced by a newly filed federal lawsuit in Texas

Problem

1. In the lawsuit, 37-year-old Houston resident Alek Schott accuses Bexar County Sheriff's deputy Joel Babb of pulling him over on Interstate 35 on false pretenses
2. Upon refusing to give permission for law enforcement to search his pickup truck, Schott claims that K-9 unit deputy Martin A. Molina III prompted his dog to "alert" to the scent of drugs.

Action

1. Historically this would have been nearly impossible to prove, but with the advent of body cameras, things are changing
2. So Schott requested and received the body camera footage, which gave him almost the same view as that of K-9 deputy Molina
3. The video shows the moment Molina gestured towards his attentive dog with his right hand, at which point the dog jumped up on the pickup’s door, and Molina let him into the cab to search the truck.
4. "It's clear to me that he's telling the dog to alert," Schott says. "I thought, 'These guys are trying to destroy my life.' "

Result

1. No drugs were found in Schott's pickup, and the county later reimbursed him for damage done during the search — including dog scratches outside and inside the truck.
2. Schott, who is suing the sheriff’s office, is represented by Christine Herbert, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, a civil liberties organization focused on search and seizure.
3. Herbert says they’re pursuing the lawsuit because they believe the deputies violated Schott's rights — and did so in part by relying on the dog.
4. The potential influence of a handler’s agenda on their dog has long been a nagging doubt about drug-sniffing dogs - more specifically, handlers might influence them to alert to a scent that may not be there. 
5. Research has shown handlers may not even realize they're doing it. 
6. Some K-9 trainers have called for "double-blind" testing of the dogs to eliminate police bias
7. In double-blind testing, the location and existence of test drugs are randomized, unknown even to the dog's handler. 
   1. Eliminating Police Bias When Handling Drug-Sniffing Dogs
8. But that approach has been slow to catch on and is often met with hostility.
9. Former K-9 officer and trainer Andy Falco hopes the spread of body cameras will change that hostility towards double-blind testing
10. Falco, who works as an expert witness in cases involving sniffer dogs, says the number of legal challenges based on close-up video has exploded. 
11. Falco, who saw the video in question for Schott’s case, says he understands why Schott is suing 
12. The sheriff's office would not comment to NPR on the case, citing "pending litigation."

Closing 

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