GLOUCESTERSHIRE Police Dog Training Unit today celebrated their latest successful dog training course with a canine pass out parade.

 


The Unit showed off their latest recruits’ new-found skills to visitors and presented the dogs and their proud handlers with well-earned certificates to certify that the dogs are now fit for police work.  

The certification took place at the Bamfurlong police training centre near Cheltenham.

Chief Instructor PC Rich Hunt said: “The six week proactive drugs/cash/weapons/ammunition specialist search training course has been a great success, with four dogs passing and another dog upgrading to take on more duties.

"They have become expert at searching in a range of environments including houses, buildings, pubs, inside and outside vehicles, and open areas such as gardens, fields and woods.

"They need to pass the test and achieve their licence before they can start to work out on the streets.

“Before the course started, we put out an appeal for canine volunteers and lots of the public came forward to offer their pets.

"We assessed all those offered to us and took an extra dog who has excelled along with the others. The public response has been great and has helped make the course such a success.

“The dogs are now adept at finding regards to the course it is called a proactive specialist search course where the dogs are trained to find cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, amphetamine, ketamine, mephedrone and cannabis as well as firearms and ammunition.

"As far as cash is concerned, they can home in on euros and sterling with ease

”We insist on high standards and it is not unknown for dogs to fail the course, if they can’t pick up the skills. They may be lovely dogs but just not right for police work.”

One of the dogs, Ollie, was offered to the course in response to an advert for extra volunteers and his previous owner, Diana Pope from Hereford, has sent a message wishing him the best of the luck in his new career: “Ollie looks fantastic now, quite a star. I wish him and his handler Lou Grabham every success for their work in helping the community. ”

The six week course culminated in all the dogs all being tested at the end by an instructor from a different Force who came up from South Wales to put them through their paces, with all of them passing with flying colours.

The dogs will all form part of the Tri-Force operational police partnership between the Gloucestershire, Avon & Somerset and Wiltshire Constabularies, and will work across the south west.

In all there some 108 police dogs operating across the south west in a range of duties.

Congratulating the dogs and their handlers, Superintendent Tony Godwin, Head of Tri-Force, who presented the certificates, said: “This is a brilliant example of Tri-Force cooperation and makes best use of our assets.

"It allows us to be completely flexible where we deploy our dogs to across the region, and is therefore an invaluable cost-saving approach. I wish all the handlers and dogs well in their vital work.”

The dogs and their handlers who passed out today are:

Charlie:  a ‘Sprocker’ (Springer cross with a cocker spaniel).  She is about two years old and will work with her handler PC Tracy Doughty from Wiltshire. 

Charlie was advertised on Gum Tree, and demonstrated real potential. The owner was more than happy to give her a great life working for the Police.

Ollie: a Springer Spaniel aged about 21 months, being handled by PC Lou Grabham from Avon & Somerset. Ollie was not getting the stimulation he needed in his previous life but he needed to be getting more out of his life.  He clearly loves what he is doing now.

Rufus: a Springer Spaniel about two years old, being handled by PC Jon Norton from Avon & Somerset. Rufus’s previous owners live in Dorset.  He has flown through the course.

Baxter: a Springer Spaniel about two years old who was also donated by a family.  He will be working with handler PC Daz Willis from Wiltshire.   

Berkeley: a Labrador already trained to scan people for drugs but now qualified to take on a dual role, searching buildings, cars and open areas. Berkeley will be working with handler PC Rich Brooks