Police Drug Dog Alerts Valid?

     An expository article by Jonathan Stempel published in Yahoo!News on Tuesday, February 19, 2013, discusses the admissibility of police drug dog responses in court.  The U.S. Supreme Court made a ruling Tuesday, February 13, in favor of the police dog's alert in a Florida illegal drug case.
     "The question, similar to every inquiry into probably cause, is whether all the facts surrounding the dogs alert...would make a reasonably prudent person think that a search would reveal contraband..." stated Justice Elena Kagan.  The Supreme Court unanimously decided that the dog's "sniff is up to snuff when it meets that test."  This decision upheld the police dog, Aldo's, alert of a truck in Florida that uncovered methamphetamine ingredients inside.  The Florida Supreme Court had ruled to suppress the evidence found in Clayton Harris' pickup truck at the original trial.
     "Florida K-9 Officer William Wheetley allowed Aldo a 'free air sniff' outside Harris' pickup truck," reported Stempel, after a traffic stop in June 2006.  Harris had appeared very nervous to the officer and refused to agree to a search, thus prompting Wheetley to use Aldo's training.  Harris' attorney disagreed with the search, questioning whether Aldo's training and certification made him reliable.  The Florida Supreme Court decided that the state did not prove how well trained Aldo was, therefore, the drug items could not be used against Harris. 
     Justice Kagan stated that,"Wheetley reasonably believed there was contraband inside the truck based on Aldo's training and that Harris failed to show that Aldo was unreliable."  Kagan said is was enough that the dog's performance in training and certification gave the officer a reason to trust Aldo's alert, resulting in Officer Wheetley's discovery of the contraband.  The Supreme Court decision and this case could make it easier for police to use drug dogs evidence without first having to show how well trained the dogs are. 
     I have had personal experience witnessing how drug dogs are trained with a K-9 trainer in Little Rock, AR.  I learned how important the use of effective training and certification programs are to the Police Force.  Only accurate drug detection dogs help officers to locate contraband without unnecessary risks or wasting valuable police time and man power.  Considering the extensive training drug dogs complete, I believe that their response to contraband is as reliable as most human testimony in a court trial and should be admissible.