NCJ Number
197515
Date Published
January 2001
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This paper describes the findings of a Florida pilot study that used canines in money sniff tests.
Abstract
Focusing on the value of conducting sniff tests on money to determine cocaine contamination, this paper details findings from a Florida pilot study using canines in crime prevention. Following a brief discussion of the use of canines in crime prevention and reduction, the authors present a literature review focusing on the issues of contaminated money and the potential uses of canines in identifying contaminated currency. Describing the methodology used in a pilot study conducted in South Florida with the Police Work Dog Association of Florida, this article discusses the quasi-experimental design that introduced contaminated currency to police dogs. In this study, a cohort of canines was systematically exposed to increasing volumes of tainted currency in controlled sniff test scenarios. Results of this preliminary study of the canine sniff tests indicate that false alerts might be triggered by canines as a result of stress or training issues. Furthermore, canines were unable to detect contamination in currency obtained from general circulation, indicating that the drug odor that dogs were trained to detect dissipated over time. The authors conclude that additional research is needed to address the dissipation rate of the odor of drugs on currency in order to improve the usefulness of canine sniff tests. References