Lawyer warns of drug dog overuse

[Matanuska Thunder]

Chris Griffith,

City Hall reporter

18jun05 Courier Mail

 

Lawyer warns of drug dog overuse

 

A LEADING Brisbane lawyer has warned that Queensland risks becoming a totalitarian and criminalised society if drug sniffer dogs are allowed to run amok sniffing people at railway stations, sporting events, pubs, restaurants and on the footpath.

 

Lawyer Terry Fisher said police resources were better spent working quietly to catch major drug dealers than conducting what was essentially a sniffer dog PR exercise designed to make the Government look tough on crime.

 

An irate Irish visitor was humiliatingly searched for 15 minutes after a mistake by a drug-sniffer dog at Toowong railway station on June 9.

 

The Irish visitor was intercepted by uniformed and plainclothes police near the station's ticket office, checked by the sniffer dog and marched off.

 

He had prescription drugs.

 

Mr Fisher said yesterday that using sniffer dogs was never going to help police bust people dealing or trafficking drugs.

 

"To do that requires detailed police intelligence. You need to infiltrate networks," Mr Fisher said.

 

"You're criminalising the whole of your society basically, and you're not getting to the essence of why people use drugs and those who are smuggling drugs around aren't going to be doing it walking around a railway station – you're just going to snare the little user."

 

His views support a NSW Ombudsman's report, released last year, which said sniffer dogs were more likely to cause humiliation than uncover hard drugs.

 

The report concluded that drugs were found in only a quarter of more than 4000 cases where a dog indicated a drug odour.

 

Almost all the drugs were cannabis, and not a single find was more than 3g, considered under law to be the dealing limit.

 

Only three finds of heroin were made, adding up to a total of 1.7g.

 

Civil libertarians say that in a free and democratic society, citizens should be able to walk the street, catch a train or bus, go to sporting events, take their kids to the Ekka, or visit an outside cafe or pub without a dog sniffing your crotch, and wrongly identifying you as a drug carrier in full public gaze.

 

Queensland Police have 55 general purpose, six drug, and four explosives dog handler teams available in Brisbane.

 

"These dogs are also trained to detect both dangerous powder drugs and cannabis and are used in areas where people gather as well as on drug-related operations," a spokesperson said.

 

Opponents are concerned that, with a charter to use dogs "where people gather", drug dog teams will appear all over the place.

 

They cite State of Origin matches, Brisbane Lions games, the Ekka, pubs, checks while you're having a quiet latte in Queen Street Mall, restaurants, shopping centres, buses, university campuses, Schoolies and community festivals.

 

But the use of sniffer dogs in NSW has proven a legal minefield, with questions over whether police can use them on anyone who they do not have a reasonable belief is carrying drugs.

[WantDaChronic]

i couldnt give a fuck what happened but if a dog went for my balls. i would do what i have always done to dogs who are being aggressive and i would grab its bottom jaw....doing so fully flips out the dog, shows your dominance and tells it that its only defence/weapon is useless against me....

 

im not the biggest fan of dogs that sniff crotches, especially if its mine

[Pickle]

According to a dog trainer friend of mine, if a dog gets anywhere near a person, the trainer has lost control of the dog.

 

I saw sniffer dogs at one of the big days out and they were sitting in the middle of the pathway on their own while the handlers were sitting on a cement wall about 20 metres away. I don't think those dogs were under control.

 

Best bet these days, carry a camera with you everywhere, if you see something out of place, take photos, swap the memory card and go about your business. If you get caught, you have proof that things weren't as they should be.