I used to get called for open air sniffs all the time. Since the Rodriguez case Officers have “the time it takes to conduct a traffic stop” which includes contacting the driver, running checks, and writing a citation etc to wait for a dog. If it’s just a civil citation generally speaking it’s about 15 minutes absent reasonable suspicion. And yeah the Officer better be writing a citation while I was on the way.Originally Posted by BehindBlueI's
That’s basically I stopped a guy for a traffic violation and I think he might have dope in the car but nothing to articulate it. With reasonable suspicion it’s up to two hours. Is there reasonable suspicion the driver is impaired? If so now add Field Sobriety Tests to the time.
Sometimes it was a fine line and it was up to me and the other handlers to decide whether to run the dog. I was pretty conservative with it because the County Attorney was using Rodriguez to dismiss cases. Some guys were great because they used my dog a lot and I’d brief them on what I needed to justify running a dog. Some I’d get there right at 15 minutes which is the gray area and I’d ask if they had written a citation. Nope so it was no cite no open air sniff.
On any open air sniff I always spoke to the primary Officer to brief me on what he had before running my dog. Most guys who like working dope are great about articulating reasonable suspicion to justify detaining a driver while waiting for a dog to arrive and thoroughly document it. A few are great at articulating it at the scene but fall down when writing the report. It’s a problem if my supplement has more reasonable suspicion articulated then the primary Officer.
I went to court one time for a paraphernalia case. The primary Officer briefed me on what he had. Multiple people in the car multiple checks on them. One had a warrant and was hostile/aggressive. Multiple Officers on scene dealing with it. He stopped a car leaving a dope house after a short stay at a dope house in a high crime/narcotic area. The driver with a drug history didn’t consent to a search. Long story short my dog sniffed the car and alerted. Drug paraphernalia was found inside and arrest was made.
When the Officer wrote his report he didn’t document a lot of it. I documented a lot in my supplement including what he told me to justify the stop. The Prosecutor drops the case after we all showed up for court. Afterwards he told us why. He and the primary got into a heated argument up to the point where me and the other Officer were giving each other oh shit looks. I was fairly quiet until he threw down an unjustified dog sniff. I asked him if he’d read my supplement? Of course he said no. I told him don’t tell me what I did wasn’t justified when you didn’t even bother to read my articulations. He didn’t have much time for me at that point otherwise I’d have probably given him an earful. The primary guy had the case on the street but he was weak preparing for court.
One short story about me and traffic law. If you haven’t looked at your states traffic code take a look at it and see how much is in there. Anyway I had twelve years on and had just returned to the streets after five years. I stopped a beat up street sweeper for not having a license plate. The driver told me no plate needed. My Sergeant was a former motor. I called him and asked. Yep street sweepers are exempt for plates. You learn something new every day. I apologized to the driver and sent him on his way. Even experienced Officers can make mistakes or not know a particular code in traffic law. This was prior to recording stops for YouTube thankfully.
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