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K9 Suspect Discrimination |
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Using K9s for scent discrimination has been part of the forensic repertoire used to solve crime for a number of decades in several European countries. Over the years, the Dutch, German and Polish police forces have refined their approach to scent discrimination to reduce errors and make it as legally accountable as possible. Statistics show that scent discrimination now compares favorably with other forensic procedures in forming part of the picture of a crime scene.
The authors emphasize that the dog does not pinpoint a suspect as the perpetrator, but merely indicates that there is (or is not) a scent connection between evidence from the scene of a crime and a suspect in that crime. This is similar to fingerprints indicating that a suspect was present in a room where a crime was committed, without necessarily or definitively proving that the suspect committed the crime.
Schoon and Haak provide detailed training methods and working methodologies for handlers who want to train their dogs in this important work, as well as procedures for gathering scent evidence from the scene of the crime. A detailed history shows how methods have developed over the years, and why some procedures were no longer acceptable and needed to be changed. They also indicate the regulations in three nations which govern training for and conducting legally acceptable scent discriminations which will hold up in their court systems.
At this writing, scent discrimination is not yet used or accepted in North American jurisdictions. However, police associations and K9 handlers may wish to begin introducing the concept in order to one day be able to add this useful procedure to their forensic repertoire.
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