NCJ Number
193357
Date Published
2002
Length
19 pages
Annotation
In this chapter, the Supreme Court’s consideration of the use of narcotic-detection canines as a legal search under the Fourth Amendment and the use of canines for searches and seizures in the areas of packages in transit, places and people, public transportation, and automobiles were examined.
Abstract
This chapter presents an explorative framework to tackle the issues of search and seizure using police drug dogs. Through an appeal from a 1983 decision (United States v. Place), the Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether the use of canines to sniff out narcotics was a search under the Fourth Amendment. The Court recognized that police narcotics dogs were a legitimate method for establishing reasonable suspicion and probable cause for governmental intrusion into those areas protected by the Fourth Amendment. The Court focused on the facts and circumstances leading to the development of reasonable suspicion and probable cause, not the dogs’ sniffing ability. In that the primary use of canines is for search and seizure in the area of drug detection and the Court has not set clear guidelines for canine sniffs, police need to make sure they use drug-detection dogs in a way that is consistent with established constitutional safeguards. The chapter continues with an examination of searches and seizures with the use of canines from four major classifications: (1) packages in transit; (2) places and people; (3) public transportation, such as trains, buses, and airplanes; and (4) automobiles. References