Hounding criminals

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Manawatu Standard

The near-death of a police dog this week has focused attention on the perils faced by our "canine cops". MERVYN DYKES reports.


They have been stabbed in the eye with screwdrivers, hit on the head with hammers, cut with knives and clubbed, but they keep on coming.

Their mission is mainly to find lost people and catch criminals and they do it with an enthusiasm and application that is amazing.

They are the nation's police dogs, and this week one of their number was recovering in the Massey University Veterinary Hospital from two stab wounds that each came within millimetres of being fatal.

Edge (sometimes called "Ed" to distinguish him from another dog with the same name) received the wounds near Hastings as he tried to stop a disturbed man killing himself.

In spite of the wounds, Edge continued to help his handler subdue the man. Only then did he collapse.

This tenacity is an indicator of the qualities trainers look for when assessing a dog's potential for police work, says the Palmerston North dog unit supervisor, Sergeant Paul George.

"The `drive', for want of a better word, can take several forms," he says.

"There can be a retrieval drive, a hunting drive, or a defensive drive. That's what we are looking for, along with high energy levels."

As if to prove his point, police dog Kees (as in Meeuws, the All Black) is prancing up and down his enclosure like a sprinter about to go down on the blocks.

After having gone through his training and demonstrating that he has the right stuff, a police dog is likely to have had $25,000 invested in him. That is just one reason why Edge got a helicopter ride to hospital.

Another is the fact that he is part of a team. The other half, a shell-shocked Senior Constable Dave Whyte, has hardly left his side since they arrived at the hospital together.

This bonding extends between the dog-handler pairs as well. The camaraderie runs deep.

"Being a dog handler appeals to a certain kind of policeman," says Sgt George. "Some might have a leaning towards youth aid, or perhaps the CIB, or forensics, but dog handlers are first and foremost thief catchers.

"It's the front line ... police work at its best."

Each time they go out, the dog and handler teams are likely to face something different, but a special part of the job is knowing that in the majority of calls they will have a relatively instant resolution.

A lost child will be found; another criminal will be caught.

When faced with a police dog, the offender either gives up immediately or falls back on fight or flight instincts, says Sgt George. These days "fight" appears to have become a more popular option, whether it be a burglar lashing out with the tools of his trade, or someone using whatever comes to hand, such as a piece of wood.

Often an extra element of unpredictability is added if the offender is under the influence of drink or drugs.

But Sgt George says the handlers don't seek to put themselves or their canine partners in unnecessary danger. Other options, such as simply talking to the person, are tried first.

"Dog handlers have to be self-driven, motivated, able to weigh up options and reach sound decisions by themselves. Just because the dog is there doesn't mean that he has to be deployed."

Sgt George directs the activities of five dog and handler teams in Palmerston North and four in Wanganui. He had six years as a handler in Hamilton before switching to a supervisory role, but still has a dog he takes out when required, giving Palmerston North a sixth team.

Formerly, dogs (females are rarely used because they tend to be smaller and more submissive) were placed with handlers after spending nine-12 months in foster homes. Now the tendency is to give them to handlers much earlier perhaps at only six to eight weeks old.

The dogs live with the handlers and play with their children, becoming part of the family.

Those that don't make the cut in monthly assessments are fostered out to good homes. Those that do well are usually commissioned around the age of two and are likely to serve eight years before being retired.

This poses a special problem. Who do you give a fully-trained police dog to when he is no longer needed?

"The homes are evaluated very carefully," says Sgt George.

During the next few months, police officers will be issued with stab-proof vests. This raises the question about protective gear for the dogs, similar to vests used in parts of the United States and Europe.

They are unlikely to be adopted here, he says, because of the type of work the dogs usually have to do.

Vests would be a hindrance when jumping six-foot-high suburban fences and they would just give the bad guys a place to grip.

So it seems the canine halves of some of the country's front-line police teams are going in to battle on raw courage, a hunting instinct and the judgment of their human partners.

But even the handlers can be in awe of their charges.

I have seen an unruly crowd of about 1000 people controlled by one dog, says Sgt George.

And that is the right stuff indeed.