Odorology

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The science of smells is the science of smell and a branch of criminology and forensic science , which deals with the identification of individuals by their unique smell busy. Odorology is based on the dog's sense of smell .

developments

Early 20th century

As early as 1910, Friedo Schmidt described in his book Verbrecherspur und Polizeihund how pieces of evidence found at crime scenes should be collected and then stored in glass containers because glass does not absorb odors. This idea was taken up in the Netherlands , where in 1919 the National School for Sniffer Dogs was opened and an odorological method was developed. In this body odor samples taken by means of absorptive materials of persons and stored in glass containers in order to make the smell of dogs comparative investigations. In the 1980s, the Dutch police first used cloths as an odor carrier for the samples.

In the DDR

In the GDR the police developed the method of odor differentiation , in which sterile cloth flaps served as a carrier for the odor traces and this body odor sample was stored in airtight jars. Specially trained dogs, known as differentiation dogs, were able to sniff out a particular sample among 100 other samples. At the beginning of the 1970s, the method was used in the first departments of the People's Police . In order to be able to take odor samples unnoticed by suspicious persons, a chair was designed in which a sterile cloth was stretched over the seat on which the person had to sit. To neutralize the odor, the chair had to be cleaned with at least 50 ° C hot water after use. To remove smells at crime scenes, the cloth had to remain in contact with the odor carrier for at least 30 minutes. The fabric could not be handled with the hands, but only with a kind of barbecue tongs. To compare the odor samples, the opened glasses were placed on the floor at a distance of 80 cm. At the beginning of the search, the differentiation dog was given a cloth with the smell to be found. Then he was led from glass to glass. The dog sat down in front of the glass in which he recognized the smell he was looking for. The odor samples were kept until the case was closed or the act was time barred. Samples from criminals were kept for up to five years after they were released from prison.

The GDR Ministry of State Security ( MfS ) took over the method of odor differentiation from the police in the 1970s and used it in various departments. Among other things, attempts were also made to identify the senders of letters by differentiating the smell in the postal control. The MfS had set up an odor archive for such purposes. In the GDR, traces of smell were not allowed to be used as evidence in criminal proceedings. The method of odor differentiation was used to narrow the circle of suspects.

The training center for service dog handlers of the People's Police in the GDR was in Pretzsch . Since 1993 this school has been continued under the name of the Service Dog Handler School of the State of Saxony-Anhalt .

In the Federal Republic of Germany

In the Federal Republic of Germany, a so-called odor comparison was first used in 1987/88 in North Rhine-Westphalia . In connection with the protests against the G8 summit in Heiligendamm in 2007 , the Attorney General had odor samples taken from participants in the protests. The people had to touch small iron bars, which were then stored in plastic bags.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jan Grübler, Horst Howorka, Matthias Lammel, Wiebke Steffen, Holger Roll, Michael Soiné, Alfred Stümper: Kriminalistik-Lexikon (= Ingo Wirth [Hrsg.]: Basics - The series of "Kriminalistik" . Volume 20 ). CF Müller GmbH, 2011, ISBN 978-3-7832-0804-7 , p. 407 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  2. ↑ Friedo Schmidt, Association for German Shepherd Dogs: criminal track and police dog. PJ Pfeiffer, 1910.
  3. ↑ Kristie Macrakis: The Stasi Secrets: Methods and Technology of GDR Espionage. Herbig 2009, ISBN 978-3-7766-2592-9 , p. 388.
  4. ↑ The Stasi odor preserve in the German Spy Museum Berlin. In: German Spy Museum. Accessed June 7, 2020 (German).
  5. ↑ Kristie Macrakis: The Stasi secrets , p 377ff.
  6. ↑ Kristie Macrakis: The Stasi Secrets , p. 380f.
  7. ^ Dictionary of the State Security. GVS JHS 001-400 / 81, published by BStU 1993, p. 137
  8. ^ Rüdiger Schacht: The scent of dissidents (1) Zeit-Online, December 22, 2010
  9. ↑ History of Dog School Pretzsch on the website of the place , accessed 26 January 2012
  10. ↑ Kristie Macrakis: The Stasi Secrets , p. 389.
  11. ↑ Rüdiger Schacht: The scent of dissidents (2) Zeit-Online, December 22, 2010