It just dawned on me that the RNC, the local cops, the out of state cops, the city of Milwaukee etc, are really lucky, at least so far, this hasn’t sparked any protests/riots.
Tensions are high and a lot of people are in ‘We told you this would happen’ mode.
From here (but a lot of articles have similar statements)
“The city nonstop told us that it was going to be the people like us that caused issues during the Republican National Convention, and we warned them for years that it would be out-of-state police that would cause issues,” Chavoya said.
Also from that article, the ways that the dog communicates to its handler that it’s found something include “changes in respiration” and “sitting”. Dogs sit down sometimes. That’s not something they need a reason to do, any more than a human needs a reason to sit. Now any time a dog does that, it’s supposed to be probable cause? And “changes in respiration”? “Your honor, I determined that there was probable cause because my dog breathed differently”. Yeah, there’s no possible way that could be abused.
My gf has been training our dog Simi in NoseWork. The way Simi communicates he has found the target scent is by stopping. That is, he walks around sniffing, then when he finds what he is after, he stops there and waits for his reward.
The other night my gf had me bring our cars out of the garage and line them up next to her truck. So, three vehicles sitting there. She had me take Simi inside for 15 minutes, then we came back out.
She began by first giving me a piece of paper, folded up. Then she sent Simi to her Suburu and said “find it”. Simi walked around the car but never stopped. Then she sent Simi to my Jeep and said “find it”. Again, he just walked around my Jeep over and over.
Finally, she sent Simi to her truck and said “find it”. Simi sniffed around the truck until he got to the passenger side door. He stayed there, wagging and excited. My gf ran over and treated him.
Then she asked me to unfold the paper in my hand. On it she’d written, “truck passenger door”. If anyone ever engages in smuggling clove or balsam (his two practice scents) Simi will catch them.
Not herbs. My gf uses a scent kit with liquid balsam, clove, birch, cypress. She dips a q-tip end in liquid scent (wearing nitrile gloves. The q-tip end then goes in a little container that screws shut (there are holes at one end and a magnet at the other. I’ve smelled the little container and can just barely smell the clove, I can’t smell the others.
My gf placed the scent container and was present, but not near the dog. She gives verbal commands and points. At her classes, the instructor placed the scent with the dog & handler not present.
My gf would leave the house and go for a “walk in the woods”, leaving her hoodie in the garage. I’d put Kali on a long line, let her sniff the hoodie while saying “find it”.
I’d take her out in the yard. Despite the fact that my gf walked around the farm every day, Kali would work out the most recent trail and we’d find her, even though she’d jump across a creek, double back, do all she could to evade the dog. It was amazing!
I’ve never had the opportunity to see this kind of canine scent operation in person but I enjoy hearing how it works both professionally and on the home front.
My father used to train bloodhounds to track. He would give $5 to one of the kids in his neighborhood to hide in the woods. He and Dixie (or Dooley or Georgia) would track him down.
Yeah, if you are that terrified by the thought of a pot of boiling water being thrown on you maybe, just maybe, do not direct the person you fear to do anything at all with said pot of water?
To be totally clear, I’m not defending the cop. But, what was that, anyway? I’m not going to watch the video. Was he hassling her or something? I read the article about the video getting released and thought, “what an odd thing to say.”
I think a lot of departments are having a hard time recruiting. It’s obviously not a job we want filled with anyone willing to take it, but what are you going to do?