Okay, gadget freak wants one. Details. please. 
Most drivers that I know who receive a verbal warning will get it fixed right away. Often we’re not aware of the problem.
I will never give a ticket for something like a brake light*. It is almost impossible to know if you have one out. I give a verbal warning and send them on their way.
*Unless and big cloud of funny smoke comes out when they open the window or it’s a drunk or if the car is stolen etc. Then the ticket will be written to show the original reason for the stop.
This last series of posts shows something that I think gets lost a lot any more in our society and a discussion of “police.”
The point to having the “police” is not to have some armed force around to engage in a war on drugs, or to fight the criminals in our society. Rather, police officers are there to help us. Sometimes, that means tracking down and arresting those who break the law. Sometimes, that means advising us of things we would like to know that might cause us trouble. Sometimes, that means helping us in distress. Sometimes, that simply means being visible in the neighborhood, so we all know that the officers are there, helping us have a friction free society.
It’s nice to know some officers get that. 
Problem with most of these systems is that the cop elects when the system is turned on or off. Granted, there are installations where there is no choice, i.e. anytime the lights or siren are activated, the camera records, but this is the overwhelming minority of examples. And if there is a strong police union, there’s a good chance there won’t even be any such cameras.
Then there’s GPS location systems, another great idea for fleets and anytime someone needs help “RFN,” but almost unheard of in law enforcement :smack:
I don’t know where you get that information. It is certainly used in law enforcement. Many of the digital recording systems now in use have GPS tracking integrated in. I know it is in widespread use in New Jersey and certainly not unheard of in the rest of the country. Mostly it is a question of cost and when each department decides to update their systems.
So what? It may be I have no desire to declare or explain my perfectly legal activities to a random (and probably antagonistic) stranger, and thus decline your request to search.
Yes, I could be hiding a couple kilos of cocaine and a 17 year old Bolivian girl in the trunk, but, because you respect the rule of law and the rights those laws protect, you don’t abuse your position of power and paw through my alphabetized lingerie catalog collection because you have a “hunch”.
It’s a length of canvas (e.g., fire hose) 12 to 18 inches long, partially filled with fine lead shot.
Useful for causing internal injuries without significant external trauma. It’s possible to shatter bones without breaking the skin.
What sort of testing is don’t to verify the reliability of drug dogs? All I’ve ever seen or read indicates something along the lines of presenting the animal with multiple packages, some of which have drugs, and seeing if the animal can identify them.
Is there testing where the dog (and handler) are presented with one package and they have to determine if it contains contraband? Double blind and all that.
I saw something about drug sniffing dog training on tv. Basically, when the pooch gets it right he/she gets played with. Most dogs will do just about anything to get played with.
And yes, they can be very accurate.
I have seen explosive sniffing dogs got absolutely crazy over the chance to play. Apparently that red ball is the greatest thing ever. I wish I could be that excited and happy over something.
Poontang?
I see I’m not the only one who needs to get laid.
Not even for that. Not the insane lose complete control happiness that the dogs get because of that red ball.
It is also nice that a lot of people recognize that, and don’t automatically see us as the enemy.
I train new officers with that philosophy from the beginning. Our number one job is to help! And yes, that does include doing everything within legal means to catch the bad guys.
I don’t know all the details (we have never had a drug dog at my agency), but I know it is extensive. In training they have to find a certain very high percentage of hidden drug packages in a variety of locations and situations. Then, when they are out working the street, they can’t be used to establish probable cause until they have a documented track record of accurate searches. They do this by having the dog search everything we can, including known drug houses. The handler keeps a detailed record of every time the dog alerts to something and what they find.
Eventually, the dog’s record is good enough that alerting is enough to establish probable cause. When the case comes to court, the K9 officer has to go over all those records for the judge to decide if the dog’s abilities are dependable enough to be believed.
One K9 handler I know picked his dog by walking through an animal shelter, bouncing a rubber ball. The one dog that was totally fixated on that ball was the one he chose. He knew that dog would do anything for a chance to play fetch, and that’s the reward he gets for doing his job right.
Like, say, closely watch their handler for cues and who’s a good little portable probable cause generator? You are! Yes you are!
I have to admit that I haven’t been able to find much information on the certification process one way or the other, but I can’t help but take the apparent lack of details as a sign that it’s not very rigorous.
It’s been stated that it’s pretty obvious when there are probably drugs in a car. If a dog’s getting into “not good enough” range you bring him in an alert him on a few marks until you get his numbers back up.
Be some interesting data to analyze in bulk.
Ahem, not cheap are they? Thanks.
I’m going to have a look on amazon, I think. Except that we’re having a little tiff right now.
Yeah, that’s more my speed. Not much of a “Bond, James Bond” am I. 
Thanks again.