HELPFULL HINTS
The article shown below is outstanding. The author, Bob Eden, has a web page which is loaded with valuable information. It's an excellent resource for training articles and case law. Of course it's owned by my favorite kind of people, ,
K9 Cops!
In this particular artical, his views are similar to mine in that you should not rely totally on your K9 partner to do all the work. Your personal tracking skills are equally important to the successfull outcome of the track.
In addition to this information, I have added a few more statistical simslarities found with fleeing felons.
MORE HELPFULL HINTS !
The Calgary City Police dog section once did a study
on how the brain performs under certain situations. The initial step
was to go to the local
university and inquire how the brain works given certain circumstances.
After gleaning the
information provided there, it was compared to a number of successful
tracks that had been
completed by members of the section.
The information was surprisingly consistent and has been effective in assisting dog handlers on tracks.
When an officer begins to pursue a fleeing suspect by the application of a police dog, there are a number of factors which come into play. These factors can combine to defeat the dog. For example time delay, winds, temperature, vehicular and pedestrian traffic often result in the dog losing the track.
If the dog loses the track, and is unable to recover and continue, the officer can bring his skills into play as a personal tracker. Mantracking, combined with the theory regarding criminal psychological profiles of a fleeing suspects can often result in a recovery of the track for the dog. Patrol officers have also used these same skills to recover evidence where there is no dog team available to them. These techniques have also been used to help locate suspects that have just fled the scene of a crime. Tracks left by individuals can be categorized into two basic areas. The first beingpassive tracks, the second being active tracks.
PASSIVE TRACKS - OFFICER SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS
Passive tracks are those tracks which are left by people who are not seemingly in any rush or panic. The person is under little or no pressure to avoid being detected. Lost persons, elderly people who walk away from homes and even criminals who do not feel pressured by their circumstances. The following information provided by a Sheriff's Bloodhound handler is a typical example of a passive criminal track.
Dale Myer is a Senior Handler with the Contra Costa County California Sheriff's Volunteer Search and Rescue Bloodhound Squad. He has gleaned some valuable information with respect to pursuing suspects who were IV drug users.
"I wanted to pass along an observation of mine regarding the effect of IV drug use on human scent and how it applies to officer safety."
"The Contra Costa Search and Rescue Bloodhounds are primarily used for trailing lost people. Over the past ten years about half our trails turn into criminal cases and we'll have some hot pursuit calls as well. The handlers have come to expect and recognize the adrenaline scent or "fear" scent when working around the scene of a violent act. We also expect it when a bad guy is fleeing the scene. The hounds get "wired" every time they hit the adrenaline scent and they really work that trail hard."
"There have been many times where our handlers start working a trail expecting the dog to react to the adrenaline scent and they didn't flinch. The hound starts working like it's a day old training trail. We have followed up on many cases where the dog didn't react to the expected "fear" scent and have found the common denominator to be IV drug use.
Somehow the drug user's adrenaline scent is masked or they simply don't pump adrenaline because they are high and have no fear."
"The bottom line is you may be working a trail expecting your dog to react and indicate strongly when you're getting close but in reality the dog might just walk up to the bad guy before you even realize you're in the ballpark."
"If you begin a trail and your dog doesn't react as you expect, you might be dealing with a drug user. STOP and take 30 seconds to brief your runners of what you may have. This should keep them on their toes even though they don't see the dog reacting strongly. This is the most important time to have your backup's alert and ready to react. Also, if you work your dog on lead, a longer lead may be in order to give you added clearance should the dog just walk up to the bad guy without warning."
The above information stresses the importance of having a backup, even though you may not appear to be on a hot trail. This passive track turned out to be a situation which could have become deadly under different circumstances.
ACTIVE TRACKS
The active track is what we deal with the most. As a result we know that the suspect we are after is under pressure to avoid apprehension. The person may or may not know that you are in pursuit of him, however due to the nature of the crime, he is intent on putting as much possible ground between him and the crime scene.
When attending the crime scene, you need to obtain as much intelligence as you can on your potential quarry. The point where he was last seen, or most likely to have been. If it's a robbery, what type of weapon was produced, and if a gun is used, get some idea as to what caliber of weapon. This all helps in your mental preparation. Determine the description details of the suspect, including clothing, but remember that many suspects discard clothing or change at a predetermined location to assist in masking their flight. Physical features are most important. Determine if there is more than one suspect if possible, and I like to find out if the person appears to have been drinking. If so, is he heavily intoxicated? I have on more than one occasion had tracks end rather abruptly when the dog located the suspect within a few hundred yards of the crime scene due to his level of intoxication. They simply go to ground and hide rather than continuing their flight.
Suspects who are attempting to elude arrest show some surprisingly similar maneuvers when leaving crime scenes. The most common habits that were found to occur in the Calgary study are as follows.
1. A suspect exiting a doorway will usually turn to the knob side of the door.
2. When crossing from a street to an alley, or vice versa, he will use the right side of a house, even if the left side has a walkway and the right side is obstructed by a high fence.
3. In running down an alley or street, the suspect will use the right side.
4. If he can be forced by your containment to continually use left turns, he will panic and go to ground, which allows the handler a better possibility for capture.
5. Normally the suspect will only employ left turns to avoid immediate capture, or to gain some distant objective that cannot be reached by using right turns. In almost all cases, the suspects first turn will be to the left, and then a series of consecutive rights.
6. Evidence discarded or thrown by the suspect will normally be tossed on the right side of the track.
7. Two or more suspects running together will go to ground faster than a person traveling alone. Should one suspect be apprehended, the second suspect will often stay close to the scene, or will attempt to return to the scene to see what is happening to his partner. This is often accomplished by the second suspect by using a wide circle to the right. Once his partner has been removed from the scene, the second subject will resume his flight. For this reason, I always advise that suspects apprehended on the scene, by patrol or by police dogs, be secured in a patrol car, however not removed from the scene of his arrest.This encourages the second suspect to stay close by out of curiosity and increases the
likelihood of his successful arrest.
8. The Calgary study showed that 80% of all urban tracks terminated within 4 blocks.
If applied properly this information can result in assisting you in relocating tracks where the dog has momentarily lost it. All too often new dog handlers depend entirely on their dog to track and locate the suspect. Too much dependence on the dog will often lead to failure where success could have developed. If the officer takes advantage of the criminal psychological aspects and re-deploys his partner in a direction chosen by using the previously mentioned profiles, he will often recover tracks momentarily lost by his dog.
Bob Eden & K9 Stryker © by R.S. Eden
Questions? Contact me via e-mail.
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The information was surprisingly consistent and has been effective in assisting dog handlers on tracks.
When an officer begins to pursue a fleeing suspect by the application of a police dog, there are a number of factors which come into play. These factors can combine to defeat the dog. For example time delay, winds, temperature, vehicular and pedestrian traffic often result in the dog losing the track.
If the dog loses the track, and is unable to recover and continue, the officer can bring his skills into play as a personal tracker. Mantracking, combined with the theory regarding criminal psychological profiles of a fleeing suspects can often result in a recovery of the track for the dog. Patrol officers have also used these same skills to recover evidence where there is no dog team available to them. These techniques have also been used to help locate suspects that have just fled the scene of a crime. Tracks left by individuals can be categorized into two basic areas. The first beingpassive tracks, the second being active tracks.
PASSIVE TRACKS - OFFICER SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS
Passive tracks are those tracks which are left by people who are not seemingly in any rush or panic. The person is under little or no pressure to avoid being detected. Lost persons, elderly people who walk away from homes and even criminals who do not feel pressured by their circumstances. The following information provided by a Sheriff's Bloodhound handler is a typical example of a passive criminal track.
Dale Myer is a Senior Handler with the Contra Costa County California Sheriff's Volunteer Search and Rescue Bloodhound Squad. He has gleaned some valuable information with respect to pursuing suspects who were IV drug users.
"I wanted to pass along an observation of mine regarding the effect of IV drug use on human scent and how it applies to officer safety."
"The Contra Costa Search and Rescue Bloodhounds are primarily used for trailing lost people. Over the past ten years about half our trails turn into criminal cases and we'll have some hot pursuit calls as well. The handlers have come to expect and recognize the adrenaline scent or "fear" scent when working around the scene of a violent act. We also expect it when a bad guy is fleeing the scene. The hounds get "wired" every time they hit the adrenaline scent and they really work that trail hard."
"There have been many times where our handlers start working a trail expecting the dog to react to the adrenaline scent and they didn't flinch. The hound starts working like it's a day old training trail. We have followed up on many cases where the dog didn't react to the expected "fear" scent and have found the common denominator to be IV drug use.
Somehow the drug user's adrenaline scent is masked or they simply don't pump adrenaline because they are high and have no fear."
"The bottom line is you may be working a trail expecting your dog to react and indicate strongly when you're getting close but in reality the dog might just walk up to the bad guy before you even realize you're in the ballpark."
"If you begin a trail and your dog doesn't react as you expect, you might be dealing with a drug user. STOP and take 30 seconds to brief your runners of what you may have. This should keep them on their toes even though they don't see the dog reacting strongly. This is the most important time to have your backup's alert and ready to react. Also, if you work your dog on lead, a longer lead may be in order to give you added clearance should the dog just walk up to the bad guy without warning."
The above information stresses the importance of having a backup, even though you may not appear to be on a hot trail. This passive track turned out to be a situation which could have become deadly under different circumstances.
ACTIVE TRACKS
The active track is what we deal with the most. As a result we know that the suspect we are after is under pressure to avoid apprehension. The person may or may not know that you are in pursuit of him, however due to the nature of the crime, he is intent on putting as much possible ground between him and the crime scene.
When attending the crime scene, you need to obtain as much intelligence as you can on your potential quarry. The point where he was last seen, or most likely to have been. If it's a robbery, what type of weapon was produced, and if a gun is used, get some idea as to what caliber of weapon. This all helps in your mental preparation. Determine the description details of the suspect, including clothing, but remember that many suspects discard clothing or change at a predetermined location to assist in masking their flight. Physical features are most important. Determine if there is more than one suspect if possible, and I like to find out if the person appears to have been drinking. If so, is he heavily intoxicated? I have on more than one occasion had tracks end rather abruptly when the dog located the suspect within a few hundred yards of the crime scene due to his level of intoxication. They simply go to ground and hide rather than continuing their flight.
Suspects who are attempting to elude arrest show some surprisingly similar maneuvers when leaving crime scenes. The most common habits that were found to occur in the Calgary study are as follows.
1. A suspect exiting a doorway will usually turn to the knob side of the door.
2. When crossing from a street to an alley, or vice versa, he will use the right side of a house, even if the left side has a walkway and the right side is obstructed by a high fence.
3. In running down an alley or street, the suspect will use the right side.
4. If he can be forced by your containment to continually use left turns, he will panic and go to ground, which allows the handler a better possibility for capture.
5. Normally the suspect will only employ left turns to avoid immediate capture, or to gain some distant objective that cannot be reached by using right turns. In almost all cases, the suspects first turn will be to the left, and then a series of consecutive rights.
6. Evidence discarded or thrown by the suspect will normally be tossed on the right side of the track.
7. Two or more suspects running together will go to ground faster than a person traveling alone. Should one suspect be apprehended, the second suspect will often stay close to the scene, or will attempt to return to the scene to see what is happening to his partner. This is often accomplished by the second suspect by using a wide circle to the right. Once his partner has been removed from the scene, the second subject will resume his flight. For this reason, I always advise that suspects apprehended on the scene, by patrol or by police dogs, be secured in a patrol car, however not removed from the scene of his arrest.This encourages the second suspect to stay close by out of curiosity and increases the
likelihood of his successful arrest.
8. The Calgary study showed that 80% of all urban tracks terminated within 4 blocks.
If applied properly this information can result in assisting you in relocating tracks where the dog has momentarily lost it. All too often new dog handlers depend entirely on their dog to track and locate the suspect. Too much dependence on the dog will often lead to failure where success could have developed. If the officer takes advantage of the criminal psychological aspects and re-deploys his partner in a direction chosen by using the previously mentioned profiles, he will often recover tracks momentarily lost by his dog.
Note:
More advanced information on this subject during sessions instructed at
the International
Police K9 Conferences held annually in various locations throughout North
America.
Bob Eden & K9 Stryker © by R.S. Eden
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PROPERTY OF "TRACKER 3635" AND MAY NOT BE COPIED FOR COMMERCIAL USE WITHOUT THE
WRITTEN PERMISSION OF "TRACKER 3635".
COPYRIGHT 2004 © TRACKER 3635