The story about drug dogs in Thursday's Chicago Tribune reached into McHenry County's Sheriff's Department.
The story was a front page one Thursday.
The part it played in the article follows:
“The McHenry County’s sheriff’s department had the most dog alerts, finding drugs or paraphernalia in 32 percent of 103 searches. In the eight searches on Hispanic drivers, officers reported finding drugs just once.“Since September 2008, Deputy Jeremy Bruketta has handled Sage, one of the McHenry County department’s two drug-sniffing German shepherds.
“Officers sometimes come up empty-handed in searches of vehicles that clearly once contained drugs, he said, recalling a traffic stop in which a man, reeking of pot, had a marijuana stem stuck to his shirt but no drugs were found in the car.”
Alex Rothacker, who is identified as someone who has trained dogs from the Sheriff’s Department, said, “The dogs are only as good as the handlers.”
Crystal Lake also makes the story in the context that most searches take about a half an hour:
“One Crystal Lake search led to a three-hour stop for a Hispanic man in 2007. He was stopped for a license plate/registration violation, according to the data.”
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Recent stories mentioned Deputy Bruketta follow:
- 11-16-10 A Day in Zane Seipler’s Court Case Against Sheriff Keith Nygren – Part 1
- 12-24-10 Transcript in Last Zane Seipler Wrongful Termination Court Hearing – Part 1
- 12-25-10 Transcript in Last Zane Seipler Wrongful Termination Court Hearing – Part 2
- 12-27-10 Transcript in Last Zane Seipler Wrongful Termination Court Hearing – Part 4
- 12-29-10 Transcript in Last Zane Seipler Wrongful Termination Court Hearing – Part 6
- 12-30-10 Transcript in Last Zane Seipler Wrongful Termination Court Hearing – Part 7
- 1-1-11 Transcript in Zane Seipler Wrongful Termination Court Hearing – Part 9
This is the same Deputy I heard a Federal Judge talking about! I think the judge was counting traffic citations that this officer has issued, numbered around 150 and climbing, all per the judge, appeared to be falsified.
WOW….He is still on the force and gets Chicago Tribune Headlines.
Gotta love “Justice.” This has now reached the point of comedy. Keep up the good work Deputy!!!
The Chicago Tribune article included this:
“Civil rights advocates and detector-dog experts said the lack of regulation or standards has led police to subject innocent drivers to prolonged, humiliating roadside searches.
“The state’s data — in which drivers and officers aren’t identified — show that the average false alert led to a stop lasting nearly a half-hour. One Crystal Lake search led to a three-hour stop for a Hispanic man in 2007. He was stopped for a license plate/registration violation, according to the data.”
It’s not a “false alert” if there were drugs in the car at some point recently prior to the stop. I’ve personally had dozens of instances where I’ve found seeds, stems, burnt residue, etc, but no quantifiable amount of drugs. The vehicle occupant usually admits to smoking cannabis in the car within the previous couple days.
103 searches and 8 of them were Hispanic in a County that is over 10% Hispanic? I hate to do the Grade school math for you anti Sheriff folks but that would show they actually searched a lower ratio of Hispanics than the ratio of population in the county.
Just because the dogs alert on a car does not mean drugs are there NOW, it only indicates drugs WERE there in the past few days or even longer. Sometimes the drugs are still there and the amount is large enough to be collected for evidence. Seeds and stems are not going to be vacuumed up and collected. A dog’s nose is 10,000 times more sensitive and will alert to the presence of small amounts that have fallen down into the seats.
Dogs do not profile. Also the Sheriff K-9 is called to traffic stops by other agencies as outside assists.
You anti cop- anti Sheriff bloggers take the cake.
AreYouKidding, remember the part of the Dec. 15 hearing in Rockford about all the tickets where Hispanics were marked down as Caucasian? Still wonder only “only 8” were Hispanic?
Were directions at roll call really to “just mark everybody down as White”? Do cops and deputies tell the truth, all the time? Do they ever “testily”?
“According to a 1992 survey, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges in Chicago said they thought that, on average, perjury by police occurs 20% of the time in which defendants claim evidence was illegally seized. (Amir Efrati, “Legal System Struggles With How to React When Police Officers Lie” (January 29, 2009) Wall Street Journal.)”
This is unfortunate that the entire department is scrutinized when a few bad seeds cause problems.
The Officers that are trying to do a good job and protect the public are caught in the middle.
Please remember there are those who wish to serve and protect honestly.
When you work for those who wish to deceive, you get caught in the middle with no out-source for stress.
When things like these happen there needs to be a way for those to find resouces to get out of the turmoil.
Where I work sometimes the innocent get involved due to the corruption of others, against their will. I know that this happens else where also.