NCJ Number
157648
Journal
Gazette Volume: 57 Issue: 9 Dated: (September 1995) Pages: 2-7
Date Published
1995
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Beneficial uses of bloodhounds in police work to trail humans and facilitate crime scene searches are noted.
Abstract
Bloodhounds are trailing dogs that can follow the scent of a particular person from the place the person was to where he or she is. These dogs can tell the direction a subject took from the point last seen (PLS), establish a new PLS and direction of travel, and indicate whether a sighting some distance away is real. Bloodhounds do not take the place of mantrackers, air scenting dog teams, and trained ground search teams but do facilitate crime scene searches. They should be relied on more in criminal investigations, and the utility of experienced bloodhound teams should be publicized more to police and sheriff departments. Bloodhounds should be trained regularly under actual conditions experienced in a search and should be accustomed to taking a scent on command from anything the handler presents. An uncontaminated scent article should be used, and the handler should be experienced in reading dog movements. 2 photographs