►The Washington Post reports that the Supreme Court has ruled on the side of police, saying that they do not have to extensively document a drug-sniffing dog’s expertise [1] to justify relying on the animal to search someone’s vehicle. "Justice Elena Kagan said the Florida court had gone too far, and suggested that proper training and certification of the dog — rather than how it has performed in the field — might be enough for law enforcement’s purposes," the Post states. The court is also currently considering another case on whether police can "bring a dog to someone’s home and then use the dog’s 'alert' to the presence of drugs as probable cause for getting a search warrant."
►Amazon, the online retailer, has fired a German security company [2] with alleged Neo-Nazi ties.Time reports that that company "intimidated and harassed seasonal workers at three of Amazon’s German distribution centers.... Security staff, outfitted with black uniforms and military-style haircuts, would routinely search workers’ belongings at their cramped temporary housing at a vacant holiday park."
►A plan to upgrade school security in Baltimore [3] is underway. The Baltimore Sun reports that Baltimore County Public Schools is implementing a three-phase plan, the first phase of which is already complete. It included "192 projects identified by school personnel — from repairing exterior doors that didn't properly lock to installing security camera systems at elementary and special education schools, as well as installing electronic entry systems for the 13 county high schools that currently lack them..... All but one project in that first phase — a visitor identification system that scans state ID cards to search sex offender databases — will be funded by...the county." This part of the funding for the project was approved by the County Council earlier this month. The county has appropriated $3.7 million for it. "Phase two, which will be funded in part by a $2.5 million request to the county and would be implemented during the 2013-14 school year, call for implementing a "one-card" identification for students and staff. The final phase, planned for the 2014-15 school year, will upgrade middle and high school security camera systems already in place."