JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office on Thursday addressed a recent landmark ruling by Florida courts that says a drug-sniffing dog’s alert on cannabis can’t be the only reason used to justify a warrantless vehicle search.
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In a statement to News4JAX, JSO said it is aware of the recent ruling and is vetting the information.
“Given current JSO policies are in line and consistent with the new legislation or recommended practice, the agency would simply continue in line with the recommended procedure,” a JSO spokesperson said. “If policies are found to conflict with the new mandates, JSO would update its policies to reflect the new information to be in concert with the local, state or federal guidelines.”
JSO said it already made related changes to its policies after the proliferation of CBD products and medical marijuana cards, or cards held by people who are prescribed the drug by a doctor and can legally purchase it. Florida voters in 2016 approved a constitutional amendment that broadly allowed medical marijuana, though pot remains illegal under federal law and in other circumstances in Florida.
In 2020, JSO put out an internal legal bulletin identifying key points and recommendations for officers finding themselves identifying probable cause for search/arrest of individuals in possession of cannabis. The bulletin came after CBD — a product derived from hemp, a cannabis plant that contains no more than 0.3% of the intoxicating ingredient Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (D-9-THC) — was legalized.
JSO shared an excerpt of the bulletin with News4JAX:
“An officer should base his probable cause to search/arrest on the ‘totality of circumstances.’ Asking questions of a suspect, based on smell, can assist in developing probable cause. Questions include, but are not limited to:
• What is that smell?
• Is that the odor of marijuana?
• If so, do you have a medical marijuana card?
• Is that marijuana or hemp?
• If the suspect replies that the substance/smell is hemp, ask the suspect, “What is hemp?”
Asking questions, in addition to your observations, can develop probable cause to conduct a search and may result in an arrest…”
JSO said it recognized at the time that as a result of the new hemp legislation and an increase in legal medical marijuana, best practices needed to be looked at and updated to meet the new legal requirements.
It is expected that Tuesday’s ruling by a three-judge panel of the 5th District Court of Appeal in a Lake County case could add complexity to police searching vehicles without obtaining warrants.
A judge wrote that, “dogs trained to alert on cannabis can no longer provide the sole basis for a stop or search.” Nevertheless, a judge said police could continue to use alerts by drug-sniffing dogs to provide a basis for searching cars.
“An alert by a dog trained not to alert to cannabis — or to alert to cannabis differently than it alerts to other drugs — can still on its own supply probable cause,” a judge wrote. “And for another thing, even without such canine training, an undifferentiated alert can supply probable cause when combined with an officer’s questions ruling out the presence of lawful cannabis. Officers easily can be trained to ask such questions in conjunction with a dog’s undifferentiated alert.”
The judge wrote that the ruling will apply in the future in the 5th District, which is based in Daytona Beach and includes areas such as Jacksonville and Ocala.
“Is the undifferentiated alert behavior of a properly trained police drug-sniffing dog sufficient to supply the sole probable cause for a warrantless search of a car, when that K-9 officer, while trained to alert to THC among other substances, cannot distinguish between illegal pot and legal medical marijuana or hemp? In other words, is that sniff up to snuff?” the judge wrote. “Going forward, that dog won’t hunt.”
Spokespeople for sheriff’s offices in Nassau and Putnam counties told News4JAX they have already phased out cannabis detection training for their drug-sniffing dogs and only focus on drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office on Thursday addressed a recent landmark ruling by Florida courts that says a drug-sniffing dog’s alert on cannabis can’t be the only reason used to justify a warrantless vehicle search. Read More
