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USING DRUG CANINES FOR DRUG INTERDICTION

 By George S. Steffen and 
Samuel M. Candelaria

 A dog’s sense of smell is superior to ours. These animals live in a completely different scent world than we do.

 Why are dogs so proficient in detecting odor compared to humans? The anatomy of a dog’s nose reveals a number of differences from the human nose. When one inhales sharply or sniffs, swirling currents of air are created inside the nasal cavity. This helps carry odors to the olfactory cells which detect smells. Dogs have about 150 million of these cells, compared to five million in humans.

Domestic drug interdiction encompasses a wide variety of investigative opportunities with respect to counterdrug efforts. The use of a properly trained drug canine team is absolutely essential in the operation of a domestic drug interdiction group. The police drug canine (when properly trained and handled) provides law enforcement with a competitive edge in traditional narcotic enforcement and the domestic drug interdiction arena.

An abundance of case law exists with respect to the use of the narcotic canine which supports the efforts and operation of an interdiction group. Trained canine teams must remember a number of factors concerning search and seizure and privacy issues. One key factor is whether the canine team has the legal right to be present at a scene. The question should always be asked not only of the canine team, but of investigators operating in the drug interdiction environment: “Am I here lawfully?”

Positive canine alerts provide probable cause for search warrants or warrantless searches, depending on the circumstances. The canine team can be used in vehicle examinations; parcel and freight examinations; knock and talk scenarios within a dwelling, business, or hotel/motel; airport; commercial bus operations (in which the drug canine team can examine bags, luggage, interior lockers, and parcels and packages in the bus terminal); and storage unit facilities. These may be random examinations or follow-ups of tip information. The drug canine can be used at airports to examine luggage, interior lockers, and aircraft. A passive alert dog (one that sits when the odor of narcotics is detected) can be used in a variety of settings.

Cost to Police Agency

Depending on the resources of a police agency, a canine team directly assigned to an interdiction group is the most desirable proposition. The domestic drug interdiction group can also use a dual-purpose dog (one that does track and bite work and drug detection) which is generally assigned to the patrol operations section. It has been our experience, however, that a dual-purpose dog is not as effective as a single-purpose dog (drug detection only). The dual-purpose dog is easily distracted because of its aggressive training regimen which makes it difficult for it to stay on task when working in busy environments, such as a bus or airport terminal. If the agency is serious about putting an interdiction program together, a single-purpose dog is best. The dog will pay for itself in the long run with the seizure of drugs.

If an interdiction group is to solely handle the responsibility of the canine team, there are certain costs associated with the animal. The cost of the dog itself is a consideration. Does the police agency have a source from which to purchase a dog to be trained or will a trained dog be purchased? The average price of a dog purchased from a vendor is $3000 to $5000. There are also associated personnel costs for care and maintenance of the dog, as well as equipment, including handling supplies, towels, tape, collars, flea spray, leashes, food, canine vehicle, and alarms, such as a heat sensor alarm. The agency should consider purchasing a newer vehicle for the canine team. There is a lot of money invested in the dog and its training. A sound vehicle in good condition should be used. Veterinarian costs are a consideration when budgeting for a drug canine. It will typically cost at least $500 per year to maintain the dog with regular examinations (barring any medical problems the dog may have).

The cost of maintaining the canine and compensating the handler for care of the dog on a daily basis is a consideration and must be budgeted as part of the overall cost of having a canine team. Unless the dog is kept in a central kennel, the handler must be compensated for the upkeep of the animal. Typically, based on the Garcia ruling, one hour per day of minimum wage (straight or overtime) must be paid to the handler.

Training costs are added to the overall fiscal responsibilities of the police agency using the dog. Training time and the maintenance of training records are essential to the credibility of the canine team.

Acquiring a Drug Dog

Once a decision has been made to institute a domestic drug interdiction group, the agency makes a decision to obtain a dog to be part of the interdiction group. There are varying opinions regarding the purchase of an existing trained narcotics dog as opposed to purchasing a dog and sending the canine team to receive training either locally or out of the area. There are advantages and disadvantages to buying a pretrained dog. An advantage is that time is not spent initially training the dog. One of the pitfalls to purchasing a pretrained dog is that if problems exist or are identified, it will be difficult to correct them if the handler is not aware of how the animal was trained. The handler may only attend a handler course which is normally two weeks long. The handler is at a disadvantage in not knowing the theory of how the dog was trained and the nuances which go with comprehensive training.

When deciding whether to send a team to a drug training school, training time is an issue. An average timetable for a drug school is nine weeks or more. The canine team can be in training for several months before being deployed in an actual street setting. The advantage to having the drug team train from the beginning is that the handler is sent to a structured school where he (or she) will become proficient, learn how to correct problems, and learn about scent and conditioning theory. The handler and the animal are together from the beginning and any difficulties which arise can be corrected during the course of the training. If a dog is identified early not to be the caliber of animal required to operate as a drug dog, it can be “washed out” early and the training time and cost are reduced.

A number of available vendors throughout the United States train and sell trained drug dogs. Some are good; some are not so good. A police agency should take care in selecting a vendor and a dog, whether pretrained or not. The selection of a dog is important to the success of the canine team. A priority must be that the dog possesses a drive to work in various environments and for long periods. An experienced drug dog trainer or handler must test the drive of the dog. It is not always wise to take the word of a dog vendor or trainer. A potential drug canine should have high energy and should initiate and like to play. The dog must be highly curious, inquisitive, and confident in any environment. Note whether the dog is easily distracted and whether it displays any stress in the environment in which the observations are being made. Independent evaluations of the pretrained dog and training program are suggested.

The law enforcement agency must examine the dog vendor’s qualifications and do a complete and thorough background check. The vendor/trainer should be asked for his qualifications and certifications. Does he belong to any national organizations such as the United States Police Canine Association (USPCA) or the National Narcotic Detector Dog Association (NNDA)? There may be an occasion in which the vendor/trainer is asked to testify in a criminal case where the dog he trained was used. The defense will certainly ask for his qualifications and certification. Are the training records of the vendor available for the police agency to examine? Questions should be asked about how the drug canine was trained and in what environments. The dog should be trained in a variety of settings and work situations such as luggage, parcels, and bags. Evaluations of prospective dogs should be done before purchase at a location with which the dog is not familiar. This will provide the evaluator with a true picture of the ability of the drug dog. Before purchasing a trained dog, a guarantee should be obtained from the vendor and the dog should be evaluated upon arrival.

The training of the narcotics dog is important. The decision must be made as to what type of trained dog will be most successful in the environment in which the group will be operating. There are typically two types of an “alert” which a dog will present when detecting a narcotic odor. An aggressive alert dog will bite, scratch, and bark where the narcotic odor is identified. A passive alert dog will sit when he locates the narcotic odor. Depending on the environment and locations in which the canine team will be operating, a decision by the police agency should be made regarding what type of trained dog would be best suited for their purpose.

Breed is a consideration when purchasing and training for a single-purpose function. Labradors and Golden Retrievers are often used because of their nonaggressive attributes.

The single-purpose dog is most desirable because it is less easily distracted by individuals or crowds. The dog concentrates on a single task – the detection of narcotics odor. A single-purpose dog does not track or bite, but is strictly trained to detect drugs, bombs, or people. A dual-purpose or cross trained dog is trained to track and bite. It is the typical “street dog” and is trained to detect drugs, as well. The only goal in the single-purpose dog’s life is to fetch his toy or get his towel. Businesses are more receptive to allowing a nonbiting trained dog on the premises, such as an airport or bus station. Another consideration is the civil liability issue, in that it would be less likely that a police agency would be liable with a single-purpose dog. A dual-purpose dog (bite trained and drug trained) may become distracted and bite an innocent bystander. Another consideration regarding a dual-purpose dog or cross trained dog is whether the canine will be a good candidate for a drug dog. Because the dog is a “good street dog” does not mean that it will be a good drug dog. The training of a street dog is different than that of a drug dog.

Selection of Dog Handlers

The selection of a potential drug dog handler is extremely important to the success of the canine team. The handler assumes much responsibility for the success of the team.

A supervisor and part of the domestic interdiction investigation group must consider several factors in selecting a handler for the team. The handler should be observed for the ability to praise, encourage, and motivate the animal. When selecting a handler for an interdiction unit, experience is preferred. An experienced dog handler is aware of the maintenance and conditioning of the dog, as well as adaptability to the expanding areas of deployment of the canine team.

The psychological profile of a good dog handler, whether experienced or not, should reveal positive attributes. His home environment should be stable. The individual should be a self-starter. His work history should be reviewed, as well as past evaluations of handling abilities. The handler should need little supervision. The primary focus of the handler should be the dog when in a work and training environment.

Administrative staff should also require policies and guidelines, such as deployment criteria and areas of responsibility, for the canine team. Standard operating procedures should be established for training in other areas of the canine team.

Training and Training Records

Once they have conducted their initial training, standards should be set for a regular training program for the canine team. The canine team should meet or exceed standards of proficiency as set by national organizations, such as the USPCA, North American Police Work Dog Association (NAPWDA), and the NNDA. The canine team should receive constant task and nontask-related training and should show proficiency before being deployed. The team should conduct daily training in the environments in which they will be deployed. For example, if the team is going to be operating in a commercial bus terminal and within areas of commercial buses, the team should train in that type of environment. A minimum of four hours of weekly training should be conducted with the canine team. This required amount of training days should be documented and the canine team should maintain training records.

Training records are extremely important and being able to produce them is critical during use of a drug canine. Defense counsel will often request training records for the drug canine. The defense counsel may argue that canine training records are “material” to the preparation of the defense.

The handler, as part of the documentation and training process, needs a number of records. These records should be maintained in good order and be available for inspection. They should be required as part of the agency’s standard operating procedure. The records should include proficiency training, search/find sheets, and training logs. Certification and qualification records should be part of the file, including trainer, handler, and canine team.

Training logs for daily task- and nontask-related training should be maintained by the canine team. Task-related training logs must include type and amount of drug used; number of searches; type of exercise done; location where the drug was hidden; time lapse of find; location of training environment; and whether the location of the drugs was known to the handler. There should be some sort of rating device, such as excellent, good, fair, and poor. Comments concerning the dog’s actions should be included in the training logs.

Training logs should include “search/find sheets” and be completed whenever the drug canine alerts. If drugs are located, the handler must identify any masking agents which are present, type of drugs, and the weight of the narcotics. The location of the find or alert should be documented, as well as the container in which it was housed, such as a parcel, luggage, or other.

The handler must be prepared to demonstrate a number of facts as they relate to the training records and logs. He should document all corrective actions taken during training of the dog. Alerts without finds should be documented. Dogs are not perfect and the courts recognize this fact.

Case law with respect to training records of a drug canine was evident in the case U.S. v. Florez, 871 F. Supp. 1411 (1994). In this case, the keeping of canine records became extremely important. This case law supports record keeping. The court noted, “where records are not kept or are insufficient to establish the dog’s reliability, an alert by such a dog is much like a tip from an anonymous informant.” This opinion points to the importance of keeping records of dog training. It is virtually impossible for the drug canine handler to remember tasks the dog performed on a daily basis. This would include false-positive and accurate alerts without documentation of such actions.

The interdiction supervisor should observe all training activities (when possible) and attend canine-related seminars with the handler to observe and learn about the role and deployment of the dog. The supervisor should be familiar with task and nontask training and have a working knowledge of the drug canine. The supervisor has the responsibility to know the dog’s limitations and capabilities. The supervisor should be familiar with minimum standards and certification of his drug canine team. He should always be part of the policy and procedure process and be well versed and informed with regard to them.

In-service training should be conducted routinely and the dog provided with “positive finds” in a variety of environments. A positive find would be that of drugs which are placed in a location where the dog is typically deployed, so that finding the drugs would motivate the animal to continue to work under those conditions. “Loaded bags” (luggage containing drugs such as marijuana or cocaine, for training purposes) are placed in a variety of locations, such as under a bus or in areas of an aircraft.

Standard Operating Procedures

A business or government entity must have standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place to ensure compliance with certain directions necessary to operate in an effective and efficient manner. A drug canine team or group must also have in place SOPs to ensure that regulations are met and proper protocol is maintained.

SOPs should be designed to maintain certain criteria for canine groups, whether drug dogs or street dogs. Procedures and policy should include, but are limited to:

• How often the dog will go to a veterinarian (every six months or annually);

• Where the dog will stay when handler is out of town (vacation) or in court;

• How the dog is to be housed (cage or kennel);

• Areas of responsibility (biting of innocent civilians, dog running in the street and getting hurt);

• Grooming of the dog;

• Required training protocol;

• Required standards and certification;

• Record keeping;

• Drug logs – protocol for signing out drugs (required by DEA);

• Definition of agency responsibility and handler responsibility; and

• How the dog is to be deployed and under what circumstances and criteria.

The described policies should make for a well run, professional canine group. Areas of responsibility and protocol must be defined. It is the responsibility of the unit supervisor to implement these policies and maintain them.

Use of Training Drugs

The canine team should be provided with actual drugs for training. A certified drug laboratory should perform quantitative and qualitative analysis of the training drugs for the purpose of court testimony regarding the types of drugs used in training.

Many police agencies train strictly with pseudodrugs. Pseudodrugs can be purchased from laboratories, such as Sigma Labs in St. Louis, Missouri, for initial training of new drug dogs or for other specific drug training. Pseudodrugs mimic the scent of actual drugs (such as cocaine and marijuana). Although appropriate in some instances, to mimic potentially toxic drugs, such as LSD, the use of only pseudodrugs can cause potential issues in criminal court. It may threaten credibility in courtroom testimony. The defense may point out that the dog has been trained and tested with a substance for which a suspect was not arrested.

It is important that the dog is exposed to a variety of different quantities of drugs. This is known as a different “scent picture” with different quantities of drugs. A scent picture, for example, of a gram of cocaine versus a kilogram of cocaine is certainly different. The theory is that, if the dog can locate a smaller quantity of drugs, then it can certainly identify a much larger quantity. That is not always the case, as these scent pictures are different and can be overwhelming to the dog. It is important to train with a variety of quantities of drugs to be effective. This is where record keeping is important. Training drugs should be rotated on a regular basis to provide “fresh” drugs for training purposes.

Procedures should be in place for storage of training drugs. Security is the first consideration – where are the drugs to be kept and are they secure? Another consideration is the separation of drugs so contamination does not occur. Drugs such as marijuana and cocaine should not be stored together to avoid a situation where the canine may alert on the cannabis rather than the cocaine, so true training is not accomplished.

Where do we get drugs with which to train? The canine trainer has a number of options. The police agency’s property and evidence section is a source for training drugs. Seized drugs – cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, or marijuana – can be used for training purposes.

Use of these drugs must be documented with the evidence clerk. Procedures should be in place for documentation of the release of the training drugs. Documentation of the quantities and how the drug was obtained should also be part of training records.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issues licenses to possess narcotics for drug canine training. A background investigation, including criminal history, is required for a person applying for a DEA license. DEA requires that the training officer indicate his training background and where the drugs will be stored. A list of all the individuals who will have access to the drugs must be disclosed. Once a license is issued, the trainer can travel freely with the substances. Every police agency should have a DEA registration. Most states have to first go through their state agency, state police, or so on to obtain a state license before receiving a DEA license.

The DEA license is called a Researcher’s License and is free to law enforcement or government. An annual fee of $70.00 is required for other entities. The license must be renewed annually.

To apply for a license as a law enforcement agency, forms can be obtained by contacting:
U.S. Department of Justice
Drug Enforcement Administration
Central Section P.O. Box 28083
Washington, DC 20038-7255

Courtroom Testimony

A canine handler should also be instructed in the correct and proper testimony related to his (or her) duties in that capacity. The handler should be prepared to answer questions from the prosecution and the defense team with respect to the drug dog. The prosecution wants to be ready to explain to a jury how the dog works and discuss the reliability of the canine. The defense wants to discredit the dog and make it appear unreliable. Each has a different purpose. The handler wants to do the best he (or she) can to depict the dog’s reliability and show that all records and training logs are in proper order.The canine team may be challenged by the defense concerning the use and training of the drug canine. The handler must be prepared to answer all related questions about the dog. The handler should be prepared to describe how records and training logs are kept and answer questions concerning how the drug canine finds drugs and how it alerts to the odor of narcotics. Does it sit or scratch? The defense attorney will ask if the dog has ever made a mistake or if it has ever missed drugs. The handler must be honest and testify to anything which has occurred with the canine. There will be questions, such as “Has the dog ever alerted to anything other than drugs?” or “Has the canine ever false alerted?” These are all legitimate questions which may be part of testimony in a criminal trial.

Conclusion

One of the greatest assets to domestic drug investigation groups is the drug canine team. This invaluable tool provides the ultimate instrument coupled with a good investigative effort in interdiction operations.

Editor’s Note: The information included in this article is but a small part of a new, well written and authoritative book by George S. Steffen and Samuel M. Candelaria, entitled Drug Interdiction: Partnerships, Legal Principles, and Investigative Methodologies for Law Enforcement.  Copies of this new book can be obtained through CRC Press LLC, 2000 N.W. Corporate Blvd., Boca Raton, FL 33431; or visit their Web site at www.crcpress.com. This book may also be ordered through the authors’ Web site at www.drug-interdiction.com.

About the Authors: George S. Steffen is a lieutenant with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office in Largo, Florida.  He has been a law enforcement officer in Florida for over 20 years and has over 12 years of narcotic enforcement investigations experience. He is a certified law enforcement instructor in the state of Florida and a nationally recognized expert and instructor in domestic drug interdiction and narcotic enforcement. He travels extensively throughout the United States instructing local, state, and federal law enforcement professionals in domestic drug interdiction and narcotic investigation.

Samuel M. Candelaria is a 22 year veteran police officer with the Albuquerque, New Mexico, Police Department.  He worked narcotic investigations for 17 years – in an undercover capacity for six years and with the Albuquerque Drug Enforcement Administration’s Interdiction Detail for 11 years. 

Candelaria, a nationally recognized expert, has instructed nationally and internationally with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Jetway Program and with the International Narcotics Interdiction Association (INIA).  He has also instructed law enforcement programs throughout the country on consensual encounter techniques.