Journal Published Online: 01 July 2003
Volume 48, Issue 4

Reliability of Bloodhounds in Criminal Investigations

CODEN: JFSCAS

Abstract

Anecdotal evidence and legend have suggested that bloodhounds are capable of trailing and alerting to a human by his or her individual scent. This same evidence may be presented to a court of law in order to accuse a particular suspect or suspects of a crime. There is little to no scientific evidence confirming the bloodhound's ability to trail and discriminate the scent of different individual humans. Eight bloodhounds (3 novice and 5 veteran), trained in human scent discrimination were used to determine the reliability of evidence, garnered through the use of bloodhounds, in a court of law. These dogs were placed on trails in an environment that simulated real-life scenarios. Results indicate that a veteran bloodhound can trail and correctly identify a person under various conditions. These data suggest that the potential error rate of a veteran bloodhound-handler team is low and can be a useful tool for law enforcement personnel.

Author Information

Harvey, LM
Victor Valley College, Victorville, CA
Harvey, JW
San Bernardino Police Department, San Bernardino, CA
Pages: 6
Price: $25.00
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Details
Stock #: JFS2002118
ISSN: 0022-1198
DOI: 10.1520/JFS2002118