this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2025
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Making dogs be cops is so absolutely fucked. I get that there are working breeds but last time I checked there weren’t any breeds predisposed to fascism
Edit: other than Dobermans obviously
Let's just not forget that those dogs are also trained to smell exposives which can be a cool thing not to have aboard an airplane.
Then those dogs, in airport and in police settings, are correctly cared for. And even if acab, these dogs aren't tools of fascism.
I love dogs, but everything the police use to do their jobs are tools of fascism. Airport security has never actually caught a bomb or a terrorist, it's literally just theatre.
Citation needed.
Alternatively I'd accept "rarely" instead of "never".
Citation needed.
Apparently it "happened" once in 1972 with an obvious briefcase on a plane with a bomb threat.
I'll accept any other tale. Even just one.
2006 transatlantic aircraft plot - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_transatlantic_aircraft_plot
2017 Australian aeroplane bomb plot - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Australian_aeroplane_bomb_plot
Man who planned to shoot up Atlanta's airport is arrested in a terminal following a tip, police say | abc7.com https://abc7.com/post/man-planned-shoot-atlantas-airport-is-arrested-terminal-following-tip-police-say/18046411/
You're welcome.
Well, let's back up a little.
There are very real threats to our security and safety in flying, and there is a good argument that security helps discourage all but the most dedicated attempts to enact terrorism or hijacking.
But what gets left out of this argument is why the USA is the target of terrorist attacks and requires so much more security than many other developed nations.
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The justification is that they're supposed to smell explosives (and they fail at that with an incredible rate anyways), but they're used to harass non-white people. Security theater doesn't actually help with security.
Let's just not forget that this stuff is pseudo-scientific security theater.
Probable cause generator, maybe. Pseudoscience, no — dogs can be trained to have low false positive rates. It just so happens they're trained to generate probable cause, more than they are detecting drugs/bombs.
Drug and bomb sniffing dogs are separate though. A dog can't be both.
I didn't know, thanks for the information.
Cadaver dogs are pretty cool too... But those don't need to be cops.
Well-trained dogs can provide useful services to a community in thwarting or arresting violent criminals, sniffing out dangerous substances or finding people. They can be a valuable part of both security and rescue forces.
But they're only as good as their handlers and trainers. When the security force themselves are violent criminals, armed to the teeth with dangerous substances and making people disappear...