Western Australia Minister for Police Michelle Roberts

Western Australia Police Force’s Newest Four-Legged Recruits Join The Frontline

Victor P Taffa

• Inaugural school of dual purpose Police dogs become operational
• New canine teams to hit the frontline sniffing out meth and apprehending criminals

5 new canine teams join the frontline from today to sniff out drugs and track violent offenders.

Police Minister Michelle Roberts congratulated the WA Police Force’s newest four-legged recruits at a graduation ceremony held at Maylands today.

“Our Police animals are a real asset in the fight against crime.” Minister for Police Michelle Roberts said.

“Whether it’s sniffing out meth and other narcotics or tracking and apprehending violent offenders, they play a crucial role in Police operations around the State.”

Recruits are the first from the Dual Purpose Police Dog Course which is a national first where the animals are trained as both general purpose and narcotic detection dogs.

Recruits have successfully completed 18 weeks of training in all aspects of Police work including narcotic and scent detection, offender tracking, bite and apprehension work.

Minister Roberts also took the opportunity to pay tribute to Police Dog Storm who passed away this week, aged 12.

PD Storm served with the WA Police Force Canine Section from September 2007 to June 2015 when she retired aged 9.

During her service, Storm performed duties throughout both regional and metropolitan WA and was responsible for detecting more than $6.5 Million worth of drugs and cash.

Average working life of a Police dog is 7 years.

Graduating class of July 2018 is:

PD Raptor

PD Utah

PD Nacho

PD Johnny

PD Sidious

PD Jenson

 

Abbreviations:

WA                 Western Australia