TheAgitator.com
Saturday Links
Saturday, March 5th, 2011- NYPD detective investigated for paying off snitches with drugs.
- Okay, this is pretty funny.
- More people should be reading A. Barton Hinkle’s column. Not just the one at the link. He is consistently very good.
- Best news I’ve heard this week: There’s a new Emmylou Harris album on the way. In my interview with Marshall Chapman on the Nashville blog, I quipped that Harris is the bacon of popular music. Adding her vocal makes just about any song a little better. I thought that was a clever line until I learned that she’s a vegetarian.
- Here’s a well-written, often-amusing firsthand account of a bogus drug dog alert and ensuing search during a traffic stop.
- Insightful Fourth Amendment post from Scott Greenfield.
RE: bogus drug dog alert and ensuing search during a traffic stop.
I guess that’s that’s pretty much standard procedure. Same thing happened to me in Dec when i drove to Nashville (yes, the one in TN), no dogs tho or vehicle search tho.
I get two (yes two) cruisers behind my Explorer. Their excuse was that my lic plate frame covers plate and one cannot read the state (it covers exactly 1/3 of each letter of the word Texas). Anyway i had to surrender my trusted .45 Glock and then they started some kind of tag team between me hanging out at the back of the truck and my wife sitting on the passenger side. Do I carry any drugs? Where do I work? Is it dangerous work (i guess cuz i was packing)? Was i ever in trouble with the law? Anyway, the whole thing lasted abt 15 min. I got my sidearm back, they even let me reload it right there. I’ve been following Radley’s blog for while so the whole thing didn’t really surprise me. I cooperated and gave as little info as possible.
Nashville was fun tho. Caught three shows, wandered around the Grand Ole Opry resort. I’ll definitely return some day.
This is why I don’t exactly shed a tear when I hear a story about a cop or a canine dowsing rod coming to a timely end.
Am I missing something in regards the story of the guy who had his car searched for drugs because a drug dog “signaled” there were drugs in his car?
If the drug dog signaled and supposedly gave them probable cause to enter the car, how come they didn’t have the dog sniff inside the car and point out the drugs instead of just having the cop just look around?
Thanks for the heads-up on the new Emmylou Harris album. Seeing her at the old Birchmere during her “Live at the Ryman” tour was hands-down the best show I’ve ever seen.
the dog was just a tool to allow the cop to rifle through his bags, looking for loot. they were shaking the tree, trying to find some fruit. if he would’ve had some money, he would’ve lost it.
the guy handled himself well and I’m glad he wrote about it. This nonsense infuriates the hell out of me, though.
that was good a good idea placing scott greenfield’s post after the guy who was involved in the bs texas search…. it shows that some govt officials at least give lip service to the 4th amendment.
“I thought that was a clever line until I learned that she’s a vegetarian.”
I think the irony of her being like bacon just makes it even more clever.
Not sure if this link has already been posted elsewhere or not, but it’s interesting:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/02/animal_behaviour
It seems that (1) dog handlers’ expectations can create false positives in excess of 50%, and (2) dogs will alert on food that interests them even without subconscious prompting by the handler.
That’s not to say that sniffing dogs are useless (they’re certainly not), but it certainly calls into question the idea that a flicker of interest by a dog should constitute probable cause under the Fourth Amendment. I would like to see more peer-reviewed studies on this.
I went to high school with Bart Hinkle. Good to see that his opinions have remained consistent (and consistently intelligent) over the years.
“Here’s a well-written, often-amusing firsthand account of a bogus drug dog alert and ensuing search during a traffic stop.”
The speeding ticket is just a boring “catch and release” effort. Drugs, however, will lead to cuffs and jail. Maybe even an article in the paper. A local hero. A “keeper.” As opposed to a speeding ticket. The dog is just the vehicle to circumvent the pesky 4th Amendment. The K9 “alert.”About as scientific as a Ouija Board.
But don’t tell that to the public.