NCJ Number
129845
Date Published
1989
Length
0 pages
Annotation
The videocassette discusses scent as evidence and the use of dogs to collect and trace scents to find an offender. It also addresses why police officers tend to forget about scent as a type of evidence and how to preserve scent evidence.
Abstract
Scent material is defined as anything that has been in physical contact with the suspect such as car seats, masks, hats, gloves, etc. Using a crime scene involving a high speed chase and a suspect fleeing from a car as the training example, the videocassette shows what the first officer at the scene did wrong in regard to scent evidence and then what the officer should have done. The assumption is that dogs will be called for very early in an investigation. The video shows how scent evidence can be contaminated or destroyed: picking up a hat and holding it under an arm while looking around the crime scene, leaving a car's engine running at the crime scene, or calling for the dogs after completing the search at the scene. The video concludes with advice on the handling and preservation of scene material so that this evidence can be admissible in court.