Only the War on Drugs could take the greatest companion animal ever, the dog, and make it an unwitting accomplice to Constitutional destruction. I filed an open records request for all narcotics detection canines in Kaufman County. I received the training manual and statistical history of Galvin, #DPS66.
Galvin has been brainwashed by the good people at DPS to sniff out non violent offenders… I mean to find narcotics. Galvin’s natural prey drive and love for humans has been redirected into Prohibition enforcement.
Much like baseball players drug dogs have career stats pages. Here are Galvin’s-
Consent Searches
Between 2005 and 2007 Galvin has recorded 381 searches. Of those 118 are listed as “consent” searches. This list came without any instructions or definitions. My guess is that”consent” searches are those in which the officer lacked probable cause and asked the suspect “Do you mind if we search your car?”
I hate the “Do you mind” search questions. They should be outlawed. Such a serious waiver of rights should not be shrouded in such benign phrasing. The implication of “do you mind” questions is that only some rude criminal would dare “mind” that a noble officer searches his car sans warrant.
Officers should be required to state “Do you mind waiving the 4th amendment and curing any Constitutional violations I am committing by searching you without probable cause?” or “You know that Bill of Rights, I am going to piss on it, will you help me?”
Of these consent searches 71 resulted in no drugs being found. Fishing expeditions for drugs are only a complete failure 60% of the time.
What is a Cold Find?
This report also mentions a “Cold Find”. I have no idea what a “cold find” is. Do you know? Some reader input would be appreciated here.
Alert- No Drugs
How often is Galvin flat out wrong? How many times does he signal “drugs” and none are found? At least 17 times out of the 381 searches. Does that mean Galvin is 95% accurate?
Not really. Galvin did not alert at all 266 times. “No alert, no find” is the most common scenario for a search. Out of 381 uses of the drug dog 2/3 are a complete waste of time.
381-266=115. I am assuming that the “cold find” and “prior evidence” finds include an alert by Galvin. That would make Galvin wrong over 10% of the time he “alerts.”
Galvin
I have never met Galvin. I am sure he is a great dog. I do not hold him responsible for the failed policies we force upon him. However, we allow “alerts” by drug dogs to establish probable cause. With a dog that is wrong at least 10% of the time the courts should (and won’t) rethink that policy.
With a drug dog search policy that does not find drugs 2/3 of the time, we should all rethink Prohibition enforcement.