U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Cops' Best Friend: The Use of Police Service Dogs in Crime Scene Location and Related Evidence Gathering

NCJ Number
164049
Journal
Gazette Volume: 58 Issue: 11 Dated: (November 1996) Pages: 2-5
Author(s)
R J Wright
Date Published
1996
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Police dogs are useful for locating crime scenes and assisting in evidence collection at the scene, as demonstrated by the experience of a police agency in Ontario, Canada.
Abstract
Victims of personal crimes often either escape or are allowed to leave the crime scene. The trauma and general confusion often make it difficult for them to locate the scene. In addition, the bodies of homicide victims are often moved to mislead police. The skills of police dogs in both tracking and article can be useful in such situations. Two recent cases demonstrate these skills. The first exemplified the successful use of tracking behavior to locate a crime scene following a violent sexual assault. The second involved the successful use of the article search to locate a crime scene following a date rape. These examples demonstrate that success results from a combination of the abilities of the dog and the abilities of the handler. The handler must gather as much information as possible and be able to interpret the dog's actions to locate a crime scene successfully. Photographs

Downloads

No download available

Availability