False Alerts: Growing Evidence that Drug-Sniffing Dogs Reflect Police Bias

Dogs trained to detect drugs, explosives, and human scents have become standard in police departments around the world. Courts in the United States generally accept law enforcement claims that a detection dog "alert" provides legal justification for bypassing 4th Amendment privacy protections against unreasonable search and seizure, and many other countries have similar rules. A dog alert is considered sufficient evidence to allow police to conduct a search without a warrant, permission, or additional probable cause. In that regard, a dog alert is the equivalent of an officer seeing a dead body or smelling cannabis. Given how much power the reaction of a drug dog and its handler's interpretations can have, it is striking how little research and data has been collected about their abilities and accuracy.

via Erowid Police Vault : False Alerts: Growing Evidence that Drug-Sniffing Dogs Reflect Police Bias