Fraudulent Use of Canines in Police Work

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1 Fraudulent Use of Canines in Police Work Daniel A. Smith Lincoln Park Police Department School of Police Staff and Command Skip Lawver Eastern Michigan University

2 Fraudulent Canine Use ii Fraudulent Use of K-9s In Law Enforcement I. Abstract Though the year s police K-9 units have been formed in many venues, cancelled and reformed at later dates. The first police dog programs in the U.S. were begun in 1907 by the South Orange, New Jersey and the New York City Police Departments. These programs were disbanded in Detroit Police Department added police dogs to their force in 1917 and disbanded in they began new K-9 units in 1928 and cancelled that program in 1941 (Cite #3 From Bibliography). These early era programs were disbanded for a host of reasons. Basically, the dogs were improperly trained. The modern era of police dog programs has shown a tremendous increase. Currently, there are about 6,000 K-9 units employed by law enforcement agencies. (local, state, federal). (Canine Legal Updates and Opinions April 17,2004). The rise and fall of these K-9 units (as stated) is primarily due to poor training which leads to poor performance. Many legitimate police dog programs are being criticized by administrators because of the proliferation of fraudulent trainers and handlers claiming their dogs can do tasks that other dogs are incapable of performing. Administrators often read or hear about the spectacular feats of a few dogs and handlers. They then question their departments canine units often asking Why can t our dogs do that? The focus of this paper will be detailing a few of these fraudulent handlers and then showing (scientific studies) that prove these dogs and handlers cannot perform these fantastic feats that other police dogs can t.

3 Fraudulent Canine Use iii Table of Contents Abstract.. ii Introduction Trooper John Peterson..3 STU-100 Scent Transfer Unit... 4 Anthrax Investigation....5 Sandra Anderson...7 Scott Peterson Penny Bell Russell Ebersole...12 Conclusion...14 Bibliography Appendices News Week August 12, 2002 Hunt For The Anthrax Killer.20 Police Magazine May Scent Transfer Unit

4 Fraudulent Canine Use 1 Introduction Much of the material in this paper is based on my experience. I have been a law enforcement officer in Lincoln Park, Michigan for twenty years. I had the privilege of being a police K-9 handler for eight of those. My partner (Kilo) was a German Shepard imported from Germany and was trained for narcotic detection, tracking, aggression control, building search, area search, evidence search, and obedience. I underwent my training at K-9 Academy in Romulus, Michigan. My initial training was two-hundred and fifty-six hours and after certification continued training eight hours a week for the remainder of my canine career. The information contained in this paper is also based on extensive training, interviews, and personal experience with Terry and Diane Shoenbach. (Owners and training directors of the K-9 Academy). Both Terry and Diane have been handling and training police dogs for over 30 years. The husband and wife team have trained, certified and put in service over 150 police canine teams for local and federal law enforcement agencies. I have also done extensive review of magazines, books, and websites leading to the conclusions detailed in this paper. This paper will present case studies of police and civilian handled canine units that have led to serious problems for law enforcement agencies and detail specific ways that law enforcement can protect themselves from civil liability, false arrests, and loss or reversals of court decisions. I have studied, reviewed, and will detail the following real world cases:

5 Fraudulent Canine Use 2 1. Trooper John Preston (Pennsylvania State Police) 2. STU-100 Scent Transfer Unit 3. Anthrax Investigation 4. Sandra Anderson 5. Scott Peterson Murder Trial 6. Penny Bell (Bloodhound Handler) 7. Russell Ebersole (explosives dog trainer Alexandria, Virginia)

6 Fraudulent Canine Use 3 Trooper John Preston John Preston had a tracking dog that he claimed could follow tracks that were six months old through a busy city (Titusville, Florida). He also claimed his dog could match scents of individuals from crime scene evidence. John Preston also lied (on the stand) about his training. Preston was flown around the country and used in high profile cases by law enforcement agencies all over the United States. Convictions of suspects were based (at times) solely on evidence supposedly uncovered by Preston s dog. Preston was investigated by Geraldo Rivera (early 1980) in the ABC News Magazine 20/20. Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters also reported on this. When John Preston was exposed as a fraud, many of the cases he was involved in were appealed. This led to embarrassment to the police agencies that used him, reversals of cases, and cast doubt on all of the legitimate police dogs in the country. The above information was gained from a videotape of the 20/20 news program. Terry Shoenbach shows this investigative report to all of his police dog handlers. The conclusion that should be reached from this case is that a dog handler should never testify to abilities of his dog that cannot be provided in a court ordered test.

7 Fraudulent Canine Use 4 STU-100 Scent Transfer Unit Cite 1-Medico Legal Investigation od Death, March 16 & March 17, 2000 Novi, Mi. Cite 2-Phamphlet STU-100 (Tolhurst Big T Enterprises Inc.) Cite 3-Law and Order Tracking by Scent November 1998 Bill Clede The STU-100 is a small machine invented by Bill Tolhurst of the Niagara County New York Sheriffs Department. This is a collection device that supposedly extracts scent from any material and deposits this scent on sterile gauze pads. These scent pads are then put in plastic baggies, sealed and frozen to be used later in identifying suspects. This identification is accomplished by letting a Bloodhound sniff the pad and matching this scent to a suspect. Law enforcement agencies all over the United States have purchased and are attempting to use this useless machine. The cost of this machine is $895.00, not including shipping and insurance (See Exhibit A) (See article from Police Magazine, May 2001). This article claims that Bloodhounds can do things that no other breeds can do and infers that the STU-100 (previously mentioned) works. All of this in a reputable police magazine with no scientific (or otherwise) proof mentioned. It is my opinion, based on my knowledge and experience that this machine does not and cannot work. More proof will be detailed at the end of this paper.

8 Fraudulent Canine Use 5 Anthrax Investigation The F.B.I. in its zeal and under tremendous pressure to solve the anthrax attacker brought in trained Bloodhounds in an attempt to match scent lifted from the anthrax tainted letters sent to Sen. Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy. The letters the scent was lifted from were decontaminated months prior to presentation to the Bloodhounds in the belief that the dogs could match the scent to the suspected perpetrator. According to Newsweek, the dogs were taken to a number of places showing no reaction (Newsweek Magazine August 12, 2002). When the dogs were brought to the apartment building where Dr. Steven Hatfill lived (main person of interest) the dogs went crazy. The dogs were also taken to Hatfill s girlfriend s apartment and a Denny s Restaurant (where Dr. Hatfill had dinner the previous evening) with the same indications when they came near his apartment building. As a result of these dogs going crazy at these locations a search warrant was issued for Dr. Hatfill s apartment. The search warrant showed no evidence of wrongdoing by Dr. Hatfill. *NOTE* Search warrants can only be issued on facts based or probable cause. In order for a dog s indication to provide probable cause, the dog must be proven credible and reliable. To my knowledge, there is no scientific evidence or other evidence that dogs are capable of matching scents. The above, in my opinion, is nothing but junk science. It has been ruled in the courts that forensic dentistry matching bite marks on victims to a suspect is junk science and not admissible in a trial. This circus with the Bloodhounds are, in my opinion, the same thing. As an aside, this Newsweek article (on Page 24) states:

9 Fraudulent Canine Use 6 Bloodhounds are the only dogs whose powers of smell are admissible in court. This is absolutely, completely false. Dr. Hatfill has never been charged, nor has any incriminating evidence been found.

10 Fraudulent Canine Use 7 Sandra Anderson Sandra Anderson of Midland, Michigan is the best example of law enforcement agencies (local, state, and federal) using dog handlers to assist in criminal investigations without proper and sufficient checking of the dog handler s qualifications. (People Magazine Nov. 17, 2003 Bones of Contention) (Akron Beacon Journal Sept. 14, 2003) (Detroit Free Press March 12, 2004) Sandra Anderson had a mixed Doberman named Eagle. Eagle was believed by law enforcement agencies around the world as the best cadaver dog there ever was. Anderson was used extensively by the F.B.I. to search for body parts in high profile cases. She was also used in Panama, Bosnia, and the World Trade Center after the terrorist attacks in Anderson was profiled on the television show Unsolved Mysteries and Disney Studios was planning on doing a movie about her and her wonder dog Eagle. The F.B.I. was so impressed by her that she taught death investigation classes for law enforcement. According to Shoenbach, the F.B.I. was warned a number of times that Anderson was a fraud and her dog could not do what she claimed. In April of 2002, a law enforcement officer saw Anderson remove a bone from her boot during a search in Oscoda, Michigan, and throw it on the ground. Anderson then claimed Eagle found another bone. This led to an extensive investigation of Anderson and concluded with a ten count indictment in August of Anderson was charged with evidence tampering, obstruction of justice, and lying to investigators. The indictment claimed that Anderson fixed evidence in a number of cases in Michigan and Ohio. The charges said she not only planted bones in the search areas, but that she also used her own body fluids to stain a hack saw blade, money, and pieces of cloth.

11 Fraudulent Canine Use 8 Anderson, facing 65 years in prison, pleaded guilty to five felonies before U.S District Judge Denise Page Hood in March Anderson s sentence is unclear at this time. According to Schoenbach, he believes she was sentenced to 4 years in prison. Shoenbach says, This is one of the most injurious cases for law enforcement he has seen in his 30+ years of training and handling police dogs. There are so many twists and turns to this case that it would fill a very thick book. There are a number of cases Anderson was involved in that are undergoing appeals at this time.

12 Fraudulent Canine Use 9 Scott Peterson Scott Peterson has been charged with murdering his wife, Laci, and unborn son Connor in California. Tracking dogs from the California Rescue Dog Association, handled by civilians were brought in days after Laci s disappearance. Scent matching was used by the handlers to attempt to find Laci and trace her path leading from her house. One dog handler claimed Laci was driven in a car for miles to the marina Scott Peterson claimed he went fishing from. The handler testified that her dog tracked down the middle of the road to the marina and then stared out at the water telling the handler that Laci was out there. (National Enquirer Jan. 6, 2004 David Wright). Terry Shoenbach said This whole K-9 case of these dogs reference the Scott Peterson case is outrageous, fraudulent, and in my opinion criminal. If I didn t think Peterson was guilty, I would call Mark Gerragos (Scott Peterson s attorney) and offer to discredit all of the so-called dog evidence against Peterson. These dog handlers testimonies are so incredible, that I would be, for the first time in my career, a witness for the defense.

13 Fraudulent Canine Use 10 Penny Bell Another current dog handler is beginning to be questioned by law enforcement is a woman named Penny Bell of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Bell Handles and trains a Bloodhound named Hoover Von Vacuum. Penny Bell has taken Hoover on searches for about 5 years. She claims her dog can track a human scent more than two months old. She even claims her dog has tracked a scent that was two years old. Bell has claimed her dog has many finds in cases she has worked. She often shows up at scenes (uninvited) and then claims she successfully tracked a scent, found people or found important evidence. Penny and Hoover have been involved in a case to help two families search for their missing sons in Minnesota. The two men are Chris Jenkins, a 21 year old University of Minnesota student, and Josh Guimond, a student at St. John s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. Bell volunteered her dog s services after seeing reports on television about the missing boys. She claimed her dog followed a scent to an entrance ramp to I 94 in Minneapolis. This took place two months after the boys disappearance. According to this article, there is a John Zantke (battalion chief with Milwaukee Fire Department) that has told police to keep her away from search scenes. Zantke says she (Bell) shows up uninvited and contaminates search sites. Penny Bell has taken credit for Hoover finding a body in the Menomonee River (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) in a 1998 case. According to Zantke, Bell did not find the body and wasn t even close when the body was recovered.

14 Fraudulent Canine Use 11 Terry Shoenbach stated he is familiar with Bell and her dog. He stated there is a lot of controversy surrounding her claims. Shoenbach says that there is no way she can do what she claims. This case is very similar to all the other frauds running around from scene to scene making outrageous claims of finds. This case is very similar to John Preston, Sandra Anderson and the dogs and handlers involved in the Scott Peterson case. These people are not certified by any legitimate canine associates, their claims are unsubstantiated, all they want to see is their name in the paper and (in my opinion) are out and out liars.

15 Fraudulent Canine Use 12 Russell Ebersole Russell Ebersole a dog trainer in Winchester, Virginia, owned a dog training business known as Detector Dogs Against Drugs and Explosives. Ebersole was paid $700,000 to train 23 explosive detection dogs for the Federal Government. Ebersole also did business with the State Department and the Federal Reserve. He was arrested after being indicted on 26 counts of fraud and falsely filing records. Ebersole was eventually convicted and sentenced to 18 years in jail and ordered to repay $700,000 to the Federal Government. Russell Ebersole was discovered to be a fraud when someone in the government decided to test the bomb dogs he trained. Ebersole s dogs were guarding numerous Federal buildings in and around Washington D.C. Five tests were conducted. Two of the tests involved loading cars with 50 pounds of dynamite and other cars with 50 pounds of plastic explosives. These cars were the driven through checkpoints of buildings Ebersole s dogs were guarding. None of the 23 dogs found the explosives. The failure of the dogs to detect the explosives led to an investigation. The investigation revealed that Ebersole faked the dog s and handler s certifications and lied about the handler s training. All of the above detailed cases are only a fraction of the fraudulent activities being perpetrated on law enforcement. I examined the scientific evidence available about the abilities of tracking dogs and their ability to match scents from articles to the person who touched the article. All of the scientific evidence is in agreement that dogs do not have this ability.

16 Fraudulent Canine Use 13 The December 1991 Newsletter Issue from Cornell University (College of Veterinary Medicine) concluded that individual human odors are not detected by dogs. And there is no general scent that dogs can match with individuals. (Health Issues Dec. 1991). In the book How to Train Dogs for Police Work (Jay Rapp; Denlinger s Publishers, LTD; Fairfax, Virginia; Cp. 1979) the author detailed an extensive German Police study that concluded, It is absolutely absurd to give a dog an article to sniff which belongs to the person he is to locate and expect him to use this scent to pick up the person s track. In Tazlitz s article entitled Does the Cold Nose Know? The Unscientific Myth of the Dog Scent Lineup the idea that dogs can sniff an article and match the scent to the person it belongs to is absolutely a myth and has never been proven in any scientific controlled study. Terry Shoenbach told me that he has a standing offer that he will pay a dog trainer or handler $5, if they can prove their dog can match scents. The offer has never been taken up by any trainer or handler in the country. Shoenbach contributes this to the fact that it is scientifically impossible for a dog to do this and is nothing but a desire for publicity, a desire for fame, and in my opinion, an outright lie. A review of the North American Police Work Dog Association, The International Police Work Dog Association, and the United Police Canine Associations certifications/standards reveals no test relating to scent matching or scent line-ups. If there are no tests relating to scent matching given by the three most credible police dog associations in the country shows that this ability by dogs does not exist.

17 Fraudulent Canine Use 14 Conclusion How can law enforcement agencies prevent all the problems associated with the use of the fraudulent dog trainers and handlers? First and foremost check backgrounds, ask for certification from a national police dog association and beware of claims that this dog can do things other police dogs can t. Be extremely careful of using civilian dog handlers. A law enforcement agency has no administrative control over a civilian and most civilians are not trained in evidence preservation or court testimony. According to Terry and Diane Shoenbach, the training of explosive detection dogs is expanding by leaps and bounds since Terry Shoenbach said that he had some requests from law enforcement agencies to train explosive detection dogs prior to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11. I used to tell the agencies that there wasn t a great need for bomb dogs, and their money could be better utilized training a narcotics detection dog. I have since changed my mind and certified 10 explosives detection dogs in the past 2 years. I handle my own trained and certified bomb dog for Van Buren Township Police Department now. According to the Shoenbach, the Russell Ebersole case is only the tip of the iceberg concerning frauds training explosive detection dogs. The demand is so great that law enforcement agencies are going to fall victim to fraudulent people if they do not conduct extensive research and investigations before getting a bomb dog. I handled and trained a narcotics/patrol dog for 9 years for Lincoln Park Police Department. One of the biggest problems I saw were very short training periods for police dogs. There are agencies that are giving only five weeks of training to handler and dog and then putting them on the street.

18 Fraudulent Canine Use 15 Shoenbach lists some of the areas to be careful about when acquiring a bomb dog. My personal opinion (based on training and handling for over 30 years) is to be skeptical of pre-trained dogs, short training times, food rewards for detection dogs, and lack of continuous maintenance training for handler and dog.. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is!

19 Fraudulent Canine Use 16 Bibliography 1. Dan Smith-Author/Personal Experience 2. Interview-Terry and Diana Shoenbach 3. Police Dogs in North America Samuel G. Chapman Publisher: Charles C. Thomas Cp Canine Legal Updates and Opinions Terry Fleck: Website 5. Video Tape: 20/20 Newsmagazine Circa 1980 Geraldo Rivera Hugh Downs/Barbara Walters ABC News Network 6. Medico legal Investigation of Death. March 16-17, Pamphlet: at Novi, Michigan 7. Pamphlet: STU-100 (Tollhurst Big T Enterprises Inc) 8. Law and Order: Magazine Tracking by Scent Nov Bill Clede 9. Police Magazine: May 2001 Al Valdez Classic Canines Capture Criminals 10. Newsweek Magazine: August 12, 2002 Hunt for the Anthrax Killer Mark Miller and Daniel Klaidman

20 Fraudulent Canine Use People Magazine: November 17, 2003 Bones of Contention Thomas Fields-Meyer 12. Akron Beacon Journal: September 14, 2003 Associated Press 13. Detroit Free Press: March 12, 2004 Jack Kresnak 14. National Enquirer: January 6, 2004 Heroic Tracking Dogs Prove Scott Lied to Police David Wright 15. Health Issues: Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine December 1991 The Incredible Range, and Limitations, of the Sense of Smell. 16. How to Train Dogs for Police Work Jay Rapp; Denlinger s Publications LTD. Fairfax, Virginia Copyright: Hastings Law Review 15. Does the Cold Nose Know? The Unscientific Myth of the Dog Scent Lineup. November 1990 Andrew E. Taslitz

21 Fraudulent Canine Use North American Police Work Dog Association Certification Requirements United States Police Canine Association Certification Requirements International Police Work Dog Association Certification Requirements Star Tribune: January 5, 2003 Bloodhound Handler s Credentials Questioned in Search for Missing Men. Author: Randy Furst 22. AP Press Release March 20, 2003 Man Accused in Bomb-Sniffing Dogs Case.

22 Fraudulent Canine Use 19 Appendices News Week August 12, 2002 Hunt For The Anthrax Killer.20 Police Magazine May Scent Transfer Unit

23 News Week - August 12, 2002 Fraudulent Canine Use 20

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27 Police Magazine - May 2001 Fraudulent Canine Use 24

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29 Scent Transfer Unit 100 Fraudulent Canine Use 26

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