dead people (or dead people parts), bombs, prey, etc.
It's not anything wrong with the dog nor it's training nor its reliability. They're unquestionably reliable or we wouldn't be using dogs for all the various nosework they do. I think it has a lot more to do with the sensitivity of their noses. That makes them able to hit on something that's there or something that USED to be there. That means if you buy a used car that was once owned by someone who either had drugs in their car or one of their passenger's did and even the tiniest amount fell on the floor or the seat than a drug sniffing dog could still detect it even if you were just a nice old lady that never touched drugs nor was around anyone with drugs but just happened to buy a used car that someone was in at one time that did have them.
Do you have any idea how much a police dog costs before it's actually worked at the job yet? A dog that has been trained but not yet gone to work costs over $10K. Then there's all the training costs associated with the dog with their new handler once a police department makes the purchase of the dog. The dog and the handler train EVERY day as long as the dog remains on the force, and once the dog is paired with their handler for a long time they train with a pro trainer which is another expense. Though the dog lives in the home of its handler all costs associated with the dog (food, treats, equipment, vet bills, etc.) are paid for by the department for as long as the dog lives (that's part of the dog's retirement benefits) and continues to live with the handler after retirement. Not that this is a problem, on the contrary, the handler and his/her family falls in love with the dog just as if it was a family pet - and to them it is a family pet that just happens to do work with a family member. Considering the expense of having even one single police dog on the force they're hardly going to fuck up the training.
There are standards - The International Police Work Dog Association...
http://www.ipwda.org/
There are other associations that also certify police work dogs, and every state government defines which association/s are used for certification. In no state can any police department use a police dog that is not un-certified and will only accept those dogs that have been certified by whatever association/s the state has chosen.
Every police dog must pass rigorous certification tests in all phases of police work. Police dogs are not trained to make false hits. Why would they be and how would they be when their training is monitored by master trainers? If some nefarious officer wants to arrest someone on purpose for a false hit they hardly need the dog to do that since most civilians likely aren't going to know what the dog has been trained to do to show the handler that a hit has been made... they can just claim a hit has been made. But, of course, if a hit has been said to have been made and they don't find anything than either the dog detected something that used to be there and no longer was or the human officer just to be an asshole for whatever reason lied and just said the dog made a hit when it didn't.
I've been working for the past year or so with our local department's one K-9 dog (just because I'm fascinated by it all particularly the nosework and not with my own dog). They are so incredibly reliable it's scary. Once they know the right commands it's cake work for them. I taught my previous dog cadaver nosework. Once he learned the right commands all the work was more me than him (learning to not unconsciously lead him, dealing with distractions, etc.). He also had to wear a cage muzzle for a long time because for some disgusting reason he wanted to taste what he found. I know, gross. It's what made him a really good natural for it though... he loved the scent which is what made him so diligent. Really good cadaver dogs are hard to find since most dogs don't particularly like the scent and are more inclined to give up on a tough search. Boo would NEVER give up even if it was pouring rain or we had to find ways around obstructions he or I couldn't manage and pick up the scent again or had to go back to the beginning of the scent cone several times to rework the path.
As far as I'm concerned if a dog made a hit then the person's car and clothing can be searched, but that's it. If nothing is found then too bad for the police because 99% or more of the time that means that something was likely once there but isn't anymore, and if it isn't anymore than there's no call to arrest. In order to search someone's body there better be a DAMN solid reason to do so such as the person was seen putting something in their mouth which could be seen as trying to hide drugs (and suspected civilians will do that in an attempt to get rid of the drugs and not be arrested). To be searching anyone's body cavities DAMN well better be done only if they have such solid reason to suspect there's anything in a person's body such as an undercover officer witnessing it or the person admitted to doing it and only if the drugs are reasonably expected to still be inside them. And frankly, the only real reason someone's insides should be searched for drugs is because of the possible danger to the person that swallowed them or put them inside their nether regions.
As far as I can tell, the reason that this revolting thing happened to two different men is because a judge signed off on it. Why in the name of shit is any judge willing to allow this to happen to anyone because the police only suspected they had drugs in their rectum because they thought the man's butt checks were clinched? Maybe he has a normally defined butt that gives the appearance of clenched buttocks or maybe they were clenched because he was scared. There isn't a NEED to clench one's buttocks just because you put drugs in your rectum. If they were put in past the sphincter muscle the person wouldn't likely feel it at all and would need to strain to expel it.
People just don't go driving about with drugs in their rectums. They just fucking don't. People that do that are the ones in prison where thorough searches are done often or someone trying to get on an airplane or just came off of one. Instead of signing off on this outrage the judge should have put on the signature line not his name but "You're fucked in the head as well as a pervert. Try this crap again and I'll be speaking to your superiors." And I'd love to know exactly what the judge signed off on... was it finger probing, plus ex-rays, plus multi-enemas plus surgery???? And who were the foul doctors that agreed to do all this? Did they agree because they were told that the guy definitely had drugs inside him and in order that his life and health not be at serious risk wanted to do all this to get them out? Or did they just go along with it because the officers said to? The first hospital doctor they approached refused to do any of it on ethical grounds, so I can't imagine that whatever the judge did sign off on wasn't that explicit.
And here I was so outraged that those women in Texas had their nether regions probed by an officer right on the side of the highway. What happened to them (though without doubt completely outrageous and foul in the extreme) is small potatoes compared to what these poor guys were subjected to. I can't even think of it without wanting to vomit. Just how the hell is it that the police, the judges and the doctors thought nothing of this??? It's madness. Absolute madness.
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