THEY search for missing persons, detect illegal drugs and assist with high risk incidents supporting the Tactical Operations Unit.
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And this week dogs from the NSW Police Force were in Bathurst undertaking general purpose dog training including searching, tracking, criminal apprehension work and obedience.
NSW Dog Unit Commander, Superintendent Steve Egginton, said the dogs have been used in high profile cases including the search for Malcolm Naden in and around Nowendoc and they also support the Tactical Operations Unit in often highly volatile situations.
Superintendent Egginton said police dogs are selected as pups, and training begins when they are just eight weeks old.
Training is usually complete by the time the dog is 18-months old.
German Shepherds, Dutch Shepherds and Belgian Shepherds are the dogs of choice for general purpose dogs which can support police in searching for missing persons, property, criminal apprehension, crowd control and tracking for offenders.
And with such demanding roles, it’s little wonder the dogs are constantly being retrained and evaluated.
Supt Egginton said the dog and its handler conduct training every six weeks.
“They undergo accreditation training each year which encompasses all aspects of what the Police Dog is trained for,” he said.
The NSW Police Force Dog Unit was formed in 1932, but disbanded in 1954 before commencing modern day operations in 1979.
It is the largest police dog unit in Australia, currently with 68 operational handlers and more than 120 dogs - both operational and in training.
