http://www.14news.com/story/21811218/supreme-court-limits-k9-searches
NBC 14 NEWS, NEWBURGH, IN (WFIE) –
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling is curbing the use of drug sniffing K9 dogs.
The ruling stated that law enforcement cannot bring drug-sniffing dogs onto a suspect’s property to search for evidence without first obtaining a search warrant.
That means K9s cannot be used to secure those probable cause affidavits, which lead to search warrants.
Veteran K9 Officer Chad Bailey and his dog, Rex, work in both narcotics and apprehension.
Bailey said they don’t use the dog to collect evidence to secure warrants, rather they use their dog once the search warrant is obtained.
However, evidence collected in public spaces, such as parking lots of highways can be used as probable cause to obtain search warrants.
“We use our K9s for traffic stops, sometimes we do narcotics searches on traffic stops, we also use it often on any time we track a suspect that’s committed some type of felony such as a breaking and entering and has taken off,” Bailey said.
Officials say, if, while on a call on an individual’s personal property, the K9 hits on a drugs or something suspicious, that evidence can be used to get a search warrant. Officers have to be on the property for an unrelated offense.