From Chicago Sun-Times · · 2m
UK Police Dogs Detect Date-Rape Drugs, But US Cops Haven't Embraced It
UK police dogs sniff date-rape drugs, but Chicago and Illinois police don't train canines for this purpose.
In brief
UK police dogs sniff date-rape drugs, but Chicago and Illinois police don't train canines for this purpose. Thames Valley Police in England train dogs to detect date-rape drugs, while Chicago Police and Cook County Sheriff's Office do not use K9s for this purpose. Originally reported by Chicago Sun-Times.
UK Police Training
Thames Valley Police in England have started training dogs to sniff out date-rape drugs for patrols and deterrence.
“These are planned offenses. So it’s really about turning the tables on offenders, going out and looking for them.”
US Police Response
Chicago Police Department and Cook County Sheriff's Office do not train canines to detect date-rape drugs.
“At this time, our canines do not sniff for drugs that may be used in sexual assaults”
Illinois State Police
Illinois State Police K9s focus on detecting methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine.
“ISP canines are not trained to detect 'date rape drugs'”
Drug Detection Scope
Cook County K9s detect cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines and cannabis, but not date-rape drugs.
“The sheriff’s office does not train its K9s to detect drug compounds that may be legally possessed for legitimate medical use”
Date-Rape Drugs in US
Ketamine and GHB are legally prescribed in the US, while Rohypnol is a benzodiazepine with therapeutic uses.
“Ketamine and GHB, which are two of the three drugs often considered 'date rape' drugs, can be legally prescribed in the U.S.”
US K9 Training Limitations
US police agencies do not train K9s to detect date-rape drugs due to legal and privacy concerns.
“There are significant Constitutional and legal restrictions on how and when K9s may be used even when deployed to search for illegal narcotics”
Expert Opinion
Experts say it's feasible to train US police dogs to detect date-rape drugs but it's not currently being done.
“Would it be effective here? Yes. Is it being used here? Not that I know of.”
Country Thunder Festival
Young women reported being given knockout drugs before sexual assault at Country Thunder music festival.
“Young women have reported being given what they believe were knockout drugs before being sexually assaulted”
Thames Valley Police Strategy
Thames Valley Police use dogs to detect drugs in pubs and clubs to deter sexual assaults.
“We’ll quite often go into pubs and clubs”
K9 Detection Success
Dogs show behavioral changes when detecting illegal substances, indicating successful identification.
“If an illegal substance is sniffed out, there’s a change in behavior with the dog that the handler watches for”
US K9 Numbers
Chicago Police has about 60 canines, Cook County has about 20, Illinois State Police has 70.
“At this time, we have approximately 60 canines”
Date-Rape Drug Concerns
Date-rape drugs like GHB and Rohypnol have been used in sexual assaults at University of Chicago fraternity houses.
“In that case, a woman told Chicago police she feared she was drugged before being sexually assaulted at the Alpha Delta Phi house”
US Legal Constraints
US law allows for legal medical use of some date-rape drugs, complicating K9 training.
“Ketamine and GHB, which are two of the three drugs often considered 'date rape' drugs, can be legally prescribed in the U.S.”
Current US Policy
US police agencies do not train K9s to detect date-rape drugs due to legal and privacy concerns.
“We are not aware of law enforcement agencies in the U.S. training and utilizing K9s to detect date rape drugs”
The key point
Thames Valley Police in England train dogs to detect date-rape drugs, while Chicago Police and Cook County Sheriff's Office do not use K9s for this purpose.
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