NCJ Number
162091
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 65 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1996) Pages: 14-16
Date Published
1996
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article describes the detection dog lineup technique developed and refined by the Dutch police.
Abstract
The Dutch Police Canine Unit, which has trained police dog handlers throughout the world since 1919, began using several forms of scent identification lineups in the 1960's and developed the one described in this article in 1993. The unit uses 15 full- time dog handlers and 15 Belgian Malinois for scent identification lineups. These dogs sniff out the suspect on an average of 40 percent of the 900 cases they work each year. First, the investigator locates evidence from the crime scene. Any object that can hold a scent qualifies, including a piece of clothing or a shotgun shell. Wearing gloves and using gauze cloth and special tools to collect the evidence ensures that nothing else leaves its scent on the object. Next, the investigator places the evidence in a sterilized glass jar or in a heat- sealed, tamper-proof bag. The evidence must be stored under appropriate chain-of-custody guidelines to ensure its integrity for later use. The Dutch police have stored scent evidence for up to 3 years, then used detection dogs to identify suspects. To conduct a proper lineup, police need six 5-inch stainless steel pipes. The pipes are boiled in water or cleaned in a pressurized steam-cleaning machine, then placed in separate glass containers, each with a different-colored lid. Next, investigators select five plainclothes detectives to participate in the lineup with the subject. Even though the dogs identify suspects by scent alone, lineup participants ideally should be the same race and sex as the suspect. All participants, including the suspect, must wash their hands with a neutral soap to eliminate any foreign odor. Each member of the lineup stands behind a glass jar, which officers have placed on the floor of the lineup room. On command, each person opens the glass jar, retrieves the pipe it contains, holds the pipe for 5 minutes, then places the pipe back into the container. Again using gloves and special tools, police retrieve the pipes and place them on the floor of the lineup room at least 50 centimeters apart. By rolling a die, officials determine where to place the suspect's pipe; they place the remaining five at random. Each position on the floor corresponds to a number, from 1 to 6. Investigators then bring in the crime-scene evidence and remove it from its tamper-proof container. The dog handler and the detection dog enter the room, and the handler uses forceps to hold the evidence over the dog's nose. Then the handler leaves and the dog goes to work. The dog sniffs the pipes until it finds the one whose scent matches the crime scene evidence. The dog, depending on its training, will indicate a match either by picking up the pipe in its mouth or by sitting next to the pipe and barking. As a control for the procedures, the police sometimes include a second line of pipes. In Holland, the results from detection dog lineups are admissible in court only in conjunction with other evidence that links the suspect to the crime. 3 notes