A Division Of Labor—Doing What We Each Do
Best
Detective
Steve White
Seattle Police Department
On a
warm
“Dang
It !' said the deputy, 'Now I gotta
deal with high ground and a big freakin' open space.
Oh, well, here goes. Okay, Thor, Find'em!”
The
dog entered the warehouse and immediately began a swing to his right along the
wall. About halfway down the wall his head lifted, as if his nose was pulled by
some puppeteer's string. His head swiveled from side
to side. He stopped panting as he closed his mouth to take in more air through
his nose. His pace accelerated as he danced back and forth moving gradually
northward and then eastward toward the corner of the building nearest the
mezzanine stairs. The dog ran 30' each way along the north and east walls in a
vain attempt to find a way up to the mezzanine. He then concentrated his
efforts high in the northeast corner of the building. The dog jumped and
climbed in the corner before dropping back to the ground to give the steady,
intense bark his handler had come to know as his “alert.”
“What's
your dog telling you?” the back up asked.
The
K-9 deputy pointed to the northeast corner of the upper mezzanine and replied
with assurance, “Our bad guy's up there.” By this time the handler had moved
into the room with his back-up. They had taken a position along the east wall,
about halfway between the entry door and the mezzanine stairs. The K-9 deputy
felt sure the embossing machine between him and the stairs would provide
adequate cover if the dog flushed the suspect from the area of the alert.
The
back-up deputy said, “Look, man, I don't want to stick my head up there. Why
don't you try to bluff him out?”
“Sounds
good to me” came the reply.
Both
deputies hunkered down behind the embossing machine to make smaller targets for
whomever the dog had found up there. With pistols drawn, each covered 45
degrees to either side of the corner, preparing for any movement that might
come their way.
“You! Up there in the corner! Come out now and give
yourself up! If you do not come out, I will send up the dog to bring you out.”
“Don't
shoot! Don't send the dog! I give up! I give up!” came
the voice from behind them. The K-9 deputy got that punched-in-the-gut feeling
that comes with a sudden rush of fear. As he wheeled to face the voice he saw
the man stand up in southwest corner of the mezzanine.
“Dang! ... 'said the K9
Deputy,'.. . I'm sure glad this was just training. Otherwise I'd have been
toast.”
At
that point I slipped out of my role as back-up deputy talked with the handler
as his trainer. “Okay, what just happened here?”
“I
just about got killed. That's what. Man, Thor has never been that wrong before.
At K9 school they always tell you, 'Trust your dog.'
How the heck can I trust him when indicates 180 degrees and 50 yards the wrong
way?”
“Hhhhhhmmmm? Why
did this happen?” I asked.
“My danged dog didn't do his job. That's why. I trusted him and
wound up with my back to the threat.”
“Let's
ask a few questions to see if we can figure out what really happened here. You
say Thor didn't do his job. What exactly is his job in a building search?”
''He's
supposed to find the bad guy.
“Okay.
What's your job in a building search?”
“Well,
duh. My job is to find the bad guy too.”
“Consider
this. If two members of a team have different skills, doesn't it make sense to
have them each responsible for what they do best?”
“Yeah,
I guess.”
“Okay.
We agree that a division of labor makes sense. What
can your dog do that you can't?”
“Smell.”
“Agreed. Specifically, his job is to find the
strongest concentration of scent available to him. He's the detector.” What can
you do that your dog can't?”
“Think..,
but, you couldn't prove it by the way I handled that problem.
“You're
closer than you think. Carry the rationale to the next level.”
“I
guess my job is to figure out how the scent gets from source to where Thor can
detect it. I guess that makes me the analyzer. Together, our
job as a teamis to find the bad guy. That's
easy if the strongest concentration he can find is at source—the bad guy.
Otherwise, I have my work cut out for me. Is that where you're going with
this?”
“You
bet. Now that you have the why of this exercise, tell me about the how.
“Wait
a minute. I still not sure I get how this happened? Are you trying to tell me
that Thor was right? He indicated on this corner as far away from the bad guy
in this room as he could possibly be.”
“Time to start doing your job as analyst. Look
at my compass for a hint.” The compass pointed to the north wall, not far from
where Thor had given his alert. “Think about it. What could have happened
outside this building today to affect how scent flows inside it tonight?”
After
a moment's thought the deputy replied, “Okay. I think I'm starting to get it
now. That bad guy was in an area of warmer air, which carried the scent along
the ceiling until it dropped over here in the northeast corner. But. . . why?”
He
looked around the room and mumbled to himself as he turned a slow circle. The
he pointed to the north, east, south and west walls. “Wait a minute. I think
I've got it. The bad guy was in the southwest corner. It was hot because those
south and west exterior walls had more stored heat from sunlight than the north
and east walls. I mean the last wall to get direct sunlight is the west wall,
and the south wall gets oblique sunlight all day. The north wall gets no direct
sun, and the east one has been cooling since around
“Excellent!”
I said as I pulled out a puffer bottle filled with talcum powder and sprayed a
column of talcum dust in the air. “Let's test your theory. If what you say is
correct, there should be a circular flow in this building with air moving away
from the cold, northeast corner at ground level.”
“Sure enough. Look at that.” The deputy said as he
excitedly grabbed the puffer bottle from my hand and climbed to the top of the
rolling ladder left in the middle of the room. “Check it out. The stuff is
going from southwest to northeast up here. Just like we
figured.”
I
hated to dampen his enthusiasm, but for safety's sake I had to remind the
deputy of a few things. “Remember, there are all sorts of factors which will
change the air flow dynamic in a room. Can you think of a few?”
“Sure.
Open doors and windows, time of day, ventilation systems too. I suppose the
circular flow effect wouldn't be so pronounced in a room with walls that were
pretty much the same temperature. It might even reverse if the outside
temperature was colder than inside.”
“You're
right. I suppose that's part of the reason the effect becomes less pronounced
with time. I've run this scenario over the course of four nights with a total
of 42 dogs. By the time the quarry has been up there three or four hours the
dogs get their first whiffs of him closer than Thor did. Just the same, all
save two have been pulled away by their own noses. This may be as much a factor
of time related diffusion of the scent plume as it is a weakening of the
circular flow.”
“Good
point. I've got to remember all this. I mean I feel a lot better, but how am I
supposed to know if Thor's indication is where the bad guy is if or it's where
his scent is drifting?”
“Good
question. You can't know for sure every time, so you have use
the division of labor as the foundation of good
officer safety. It's a three step process which starts long before you ever do
a real building search. First, begin by training your back-up officers. Teach
them they must follow your directions precisely. They need enough faith in you
to watch your back at all times, even if you tell them the threat may be in the
opposite direction the dog is going. Next, prepare yourself before starting any
building search. Try to predict which way the air will flow. Look for exterior
and interior walls that differ significantly in temperature. Check for fans,
vents, and open windows. Bring a wrist compass and a puffer bottle. Check door
seams before you open the doors to determine if they lead to inward or outward
breathing rooms. Treat high alerts with extra caution— especially if they come
from cold walls since there can be two danger zones with them. Finally, debrief
every search. If you will at least use them as opportunities to learn, there is
no such thing as a failed application or exercise.”
“Got it. Thor's got his job, I've got mine, and
back-ups have theirs” the deputy said as we walked out of the building.
“Thanks, man, that was an eye opener.”
I thanked him kindly as he departed. I must admit I
felt a flush of satisfaction as I heard him tell the next handler in line,
“You're gonna love this one, man.
Copyright 1998 Steve White. ptswhite@charter.net
All rights reserved. “Every handler gets the dog he deserves.” Motto:
RAF K9. Originally published
by the
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