Florida v. Jardines, 569 U.S. 1 (2013), was a United States Supreme Court case which resulted in the decision that police use of a trained detection dog to sniff for narcotics on the front porch of a private home is a "search" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and therefore, without consent, requires both probable cause and a search warrant.
Police dog
Justice Antonin Scalia delivered the majority opinion, joined by Justices Kagan, Thomas, Ginsburg and Sotomayor.
Justice Elena Kagan concurred, joined by Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor.
Justice Samuel Alito dissented, joined by Roberts, Kennedy and Breyer.
A detection dog or sniffer dog is a dog that is trained to use its senses to detect substances such as explosives, illegal drugs, wildlife scat, currency, blood, and contraband electronics such as illicit mobile phones. The sense most used by detection dogs is smell. Hunting dogs that search for game, and search and rescue dogs that work to find missing humans are generally not considered detection dogs but fit instead under their own categories. There is some overlap, as in the case of cadaver dogs, trained to search for human remains.
Detection dog training in U.S. Navy military for drug detection
An English Springer Spaniel on duty as a detection dog with the British Transport Police at Waterloo station
Ukrainian sapper with a landmine finder dog Patron in Ukraine after battle during the 2022 Russian invasion
Knapweed Nightmare noxious weed detection dog wearing GPS tracking harness