[SOLVED] Dog Units

[wannabechick]

Hi Guys, Im interested in joining the police here in Ireland (Im english but been here for nearly 8 years), im more so interested in the Dog handling unit. Can anyone here give me some advice about how to go about this. Ive googled but not coming up with much information. Also Im not getting much info about the Garda reserves, would it be easier to join the force by going this route?

Thanks for you help

[niceguyalways]

(15-01-2010 09:18 PM)wannabechick Wrote:  Hi Guys, Im interested in joining the police here in Ireland (Im english but been here for nearly 8 years), im more so interested in the Dog handling unit. Can anyone here give me some advice about how to go about this. Ive googled but not coming up with much information. Also Im not getting much info about the Garda reserves, would it be easier to join the force by going this route?

Thanks for you help

I there,

The dog unit is considered a specialised unit with AGS. You must first complete your training and do 3 years operational policing before applying. There are very few vacancies within the Dog unit however im afraid. Dublin has the greatest amount of them. The rest are spread around the regions.

Great unit to get into though. (also might be an idea for you to post in the introduce yourself thread in the open area!)

[Administrator]

As said above, small unit. I dont know all the handlers but the few I have come across are showing no signs of leaving or retiring so plus I havent seen any competitions for it in 6 years!!

[Sierra Oscar]

Wannabechick, welcome along to the forum.

I've worked with dog units from a number of UK Police Forces, from drugs dogs to general purpose dogs, bomb dogs and gun dogs. Like in Ireland, the vacancies in the dog section are always very sought after but if its what you really want to do then don't be put off.

You could also consider Irish Customs and Excise, who have their own dog section, and the Airport Police has a small dog section as well.

Give the Garda Reserve a go first of all to see if policing is for you. As mentioned, working as a police dog handler means first of all working as a police officer. If you don't like this, chances are you won't like police dog handling. The GR will give you a flavour of police work to start off with.

[Sierra Oscar]

One of the (UK) Police's newest recruits, Monty, a german shepherd puppy who was bought for the force following a fund-raising event.

[Corcioch]

(18-01-2010 07:56 PM)woodentop Wrote:  

One of the (UK) Police's newest recruits, Monty, a german shepherd puppy who was bought for the force following a fund-raising event.

Man that pup is a smasher!! . . . .Love Dogs.

I have a Bernese Mountain Dog . . . .would love a Shep pup like him!!!

[bravo alpha]

2 of the handlers are retiring in the next month or 2 and arent being replaced, they are getting 2 new dogs in march but no new handlers just replacement dogs costs about 15k a dog to train and house initially apparently.

As for joining the reserve first alot of the students were asked were they in the garda reserve prior to joining and if not why not so it looks like a route they'll head down if they start recruiting again. and woodentops rightit'll give oyu a great heads up what policings like let you know if you really want to do it or not

[Sierra Oscar]

Cork - yup Monty is a gorgeous pup. Big fan of the german shepherds myself having always had them at home.

Monty's story and a bit about Essex dog squad history (albeit a bit out of date):

Students at SEEVIC College in Runnymede Chase organised a fancy dress competition, raffle and talent show to raise enough cash to buy Monty, a 12-week-old pup, from a private breeder in Doncaster.

Monty, a German Shepherd, will be teamed with a handler and begin training to become a general purpose police dog in January 2011. Once he has mastered tracking and searching skills, he’ll join other police dogs sniffing out crime on the streets of Essex.

The students were able to meet Monty when dog instructor Pc Dave Frost dropped into the college to say thank you on Tuesday, January 12. He said: “Monty was really well received by the students and Essex Police dog section is very grateful for the donation.

“Monty will live with a puppy walker until next year when we hope he’ll be able to start training. The college’s donation means an extra police dog on our streets fighting crime.”

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Essex Dog Unit History

"Because of his peculiar sense of loyalty and acute sense of smell, the dog has for many centuries been used by man to guard his home and property. In war and peace his use has been amply justified. Many continental countries have a large and extensive use for police dogs and very advanced training establishments".


Remoh and Senta

There is a sharp contrast between the original Essex Police Dog Unit, formed in 1953, and that of today. Originally there were only two dogs, a Doberman, called Remoh, and Senta, a German Shepherd, plus the two officers, Pc Pete Cousins and Pc Dan Hare.

In 1954, the two officers were sent to train as handlers at the Mount Browne Dog Training Centre, Guildford, Surrey. At the time the Dog Unit was based at police headquarters in Chelmsford and the small team of two dogs and two officers shared one dog van. It was only a year later that they made their first arrest. In June 1955, Pete and Remoh attended a burglary at the Cherry Tree Public House, Mersea Road, Colchester. The dog and handler tracked across a field to a local army camp where they arrested a serving soldier. This was the first, many more followed.

Both dogs were entered for the competitive trials organised by the Associated Sheep, Police and Army Dog Society. Out of 23 entries Senta came second and was the only dog to receive maximum marks for tracking and seek back, with Remoh coming seventh.

Numbers Increased

In 1956, three years after the first two dogs had been trained, the dog unit was increased to ten dogs and handlers. This proved the effectiveness of these wonderful animals and the skills they could bring to the organisation.

In 1968 the unit was split up to cover stations at Brentwood, Harlow, Colchester and Thorpe, this reorganisation gave better coverage of dogs across the county. A year later in 1969 when the Essex Constabulary amalgamated with the Southend Borough, one sergeant and a further eight constables joined the dog unit. Pc 213 Mashen was the first Southend Borough handler to join the unit, he had previously served with both the Essex Constabulary and the Metropolitan Police Service. Still they only had one mini van between them, with the majority of patrols being carried out on foot. All of the dogs were kennelled at home with their handlers.

All the handlers demonstrated a high degree of professionalism, and several of them attended the National Police Dog Trials.

New Home

In 1970 the expanding unit was desperate for more room. A purpose built office block with kennels was provided just outside Chelmsford, at Sandon. The unit is still based there today.

For many years the Essex Police Dog Unit gave a display of their work at the Colchester Tattoo, which was one of the largest military displays in the country. Most of these displays were carried out under searchlight, and the dogs and handlers loved showing what they could do. The last display given was the 150th anniversary of Essex Police in 1990.

Today the Essex Police dogs rarely show off their talents, except at their own Open Day or in competition.

Since January 1988 the majority of training has been carried out at the Regional Police Dog Training School in Guildford, where the original two police dogs were trained. All the dogs receive refresher training and this is undertaken at the Essex Police Dog Unit Headquarters at Sandon.

Dog Facts

The Unit continues to move with the times and, in 1999 two handlers were the first to complete afirearms course allowing them to carry weapons, while attending firearms incidents with their dogs.

The Dogs

Some dogs are purchased, although most are received as gifts from the public. They are accepted for training at about a year old, but are never accepted if they are over aggressive, timid or nervous. The dog should be about 23" tall at the shoulder, quite bold, but friendly, with even temperament. If a dog is accepted it will attend an 8 week training course, where it will be taught obedience, agility, retrieval techniques and how to search buildings. Dogs are also trained to track, chase and detain a fleeing criminal, by circling the person, and to keep barking even if the person is armed with a stick or gun and quite determined to get away. Police dogs can track a person up to three or four hours after the ground was disturbed. On completion of the course the dog is licensed to work, for 12 months, this is reviewed annually. For general police work the German Shepherd is the most popular dog, this is mainly due to availability, temperament and its trainability. Other breeds have been used in the past including; Riesenschnauzer, Bouviers and Rottweiler.

The trained dogs live with their handlers and go to Sandon Kennels if their handler is on holiday or sick. The dogs usually retire from work between seven and eight years old, although some dogs have still been fit and active at ten or eleven.

Bloodhounds Introduced

In 1998 Essex Police received a Home Office grant to trial the use of bloodhounds in the service. Bloodhounds are bred to track people but have not been used by any police force in the United Kingdom for 60 years.

To bloodhounds, human scent is as individual as DNA and their sense of smell is so good, they can follow a trail even when the target is not touching the ground. The trial continued for 3 years and at the end it was decided that the bloodhounds did not fit into the police environment like the GSD. All the training and work did not go to waste, as many of the training techniques are now used on the GSDs to improve their tracking skills.

The Dog Unit today

Today the dog unit has 42 German Shepherd dogs, eight of which are trained as tactical firearm dogs, five explosive search dogs, 10 drug/weapon recovery dogs, two bloodhounds and 2 specialist tracking German Shepherds. To move the dogs and handlers around, the unit currently has; 21 Ford Mondeo estate cars, one Vauxhall Astravan and a six cage Ford/Iveco truck used for training.

The current sections within the dog unit are based at; Sandon, Harlow, Colchester, Thorpe, Laindon, Rochford and South Ockendon. The most recent addition to the unit was in 1996 when the dog section at Bocking, near Braintree was created. This spread gives excellent coverage across the county.

The dog section attends up to 15,000 incidents a year often looking for missing people and items of property. The handlers arrest up to 1,000 prisoners and assist in arresting many more. Drug dogs attend incidents every day and have recovered millions of pounds worth of drugs over the years

[Sierra Oscar]

Some more pics of Monty.

[Alpha Papa]

Hi their

As woodentop said above, Dublin Airport Police have a K9/Dog Unit which was established in 1970. They can often be seen patrolling around the outer limits of the airport in there specially adapted Landrover Discovery jeeps.

The airport K9 unit would be more similar to UK police dog units as there used in a Rapid Response/Public order role in there daily functions either response to airfield incursions or in support of normal police operations. At the momment they utilse German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois breeds as their police dogs.

Modern thinking is now to get Labrador Retriever or the like for sniffing out prohibited items along with protection dogs like is now the common trend in the uk for dog handlers to have two dogs while on patrol same as is the case with the BriTish Transport Police.

Im sure if you gave them a call you could organise a visit to either the AGS or APS units, no harm ringing and checking?

Ive attached three photos below

1st is a demonstration put on for public at recent recruit passing out parade of K9 unit landrover in pursuit of a stolen car

2nd is circa 2002/2003 a Police Dog Handler on patrol of Dublin Airport perimeter fence.

3rd an exract from a local airport community newsletter on the sergeant over the K9 unit.