Q: Is it legal to have drug dogs for a simple traffic stop
A: Yes, cops call it an "outside sniff," or words to that effect. The bummer about dogs, is that a LOT of the time now, routine traffic stops are done with a K-9 officer. If you happened to have been stopped within 3-5 minutes prior to a drug dog getting there, probably no Judge would say the stop was "prolonged." If you happened to be stopped by a K-9 officer on a "routine stop," I would get the police report because 9 times out of 10, it's B.S. that it's a "routine stop," with a K-9 officer. My guess is that there was a DEA/County Drug Task Force effort underway and the cops doing the stopping had been told that "every car coming from that house will be stopped." Once the stop occurred, the drug dog was run around the car and hit on something, which gives the police PC to search the vehicle. Was this a car or a house?
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