The Kent Police dog unit

The first Spotlight is on Kent Police's dog unit and in particular handler PC Neil Loudon and his dog Snoop.

Snoop, a year old cross breed is now a fully-fledged member of the Kent Police Dog Unit having previously been destined for a life in a rescue centre.

The role of the dog unit

The Kent Police dog section performs a vital role in modern law enforcement. Our police dogs are used to detect drugs, cash and explosives and they can help find missing people, and evidence and clues to crimes.

Read about what Neil and Snoop have been up to... 

Friday 21 May (night shift)

Tonight, a call from the control room sent Saxon and I to a warehouse after the alarm had sounded.

After positioning officers around the perimeter fencing to catch anyone who might try to escape, Saxon and I went into the building.

Part of our training is to make potential intruders aware of our presence and give them a chance to give themselves up so I shouted that I had Saxon and was about to let him off his lead to search.

With Saxon’s sense of smell, he is able to quickly search large areas and also detect people who are out of sight in closed spaces like cupboards. Using officers to search the same type of space would take a lot longer but Saxon finished in minutes and officers could quickly get back on to their next job.

Firearms support dog

As well as being a search dog, Saxon is also a firearms support dog and we’ve both been trained on how best we can work with our firearms colleagues.

For Saxon this role involves being the first into a situation, wearing a light-weight head camera and relaying vital footage to me via a monitor. He provides valuable information on a situation to the firearms team before they enter.

This is obviously a hazardous job but is so important in helping to safeguard our firearms officers. Thankfully, this type of job is rare for me and Saxon.

Watch the video below to get a taste of what Saxon sees.

 

Thursday 20 May (night shift)

At the start of our shift, Snoop and I were called to assist a colleague search a vehicle which they believed contained drugs.

Snoop is so quick at searching the vehicle - much quicker than an officer - and can get into places we can’t reach. Also, with Snoop doing the searching, the officers at the scene were able to get on with other duties.

Tracking

A few hours later, I attended an incident where officers were following a suspected stolen vehicle. We were called in case the occupants of the vehicle jumped out and ran off. Saxon is trained to track people, whether they are an offender or missing person, by smell.

When tracking, Saxon wears a harness rather than his collar, for a couple of reasons. Firstly it’s a sign to Saxon of what I want him to do and goes back to his training days.

Secondly, the harness has a longer lead attached, which allows me to give Saxon more freedom to roam and track a scent.

Also, the harness is a safety and comfort measure for Saxon. When tracking, he naturally pulls so the harness is more comfortable than his collar.

Team work - working with the helicopter

Using dogs like Saxon and Snoop has obvious benefits for other colleagues in the force, most recently the helicopter crew.

I was called to an incident recently where the occupants of a vehicle had crashed it into another vehicle and run off.

Some witnesses nearby pointed across a park so I used Saxon to pick up a scent. He tracked through fields and farmlands and we caught up with the occupants at a railway line. At that point, it wasn’t safe for Saxon and I to cross so we radioed to the helicopter and I talked them to my location, now a long way from the scene of the incident.

Using my location, the helicopter was able to find the occupants and landed to detain them. A great bit of team work with a positive result.

Dog handlers and the helicopter team complement each other really well. For example, dogs like Saxon can quickly identify the direction an offender took while the helicopter goes ahead to search. The helicopter team can also request Saxon search an area if their cameras can’t quite pick up a clear image.

 

Did you know...

Looking after our dogs

During this last week of Spotlight on the dog unit, we’ll be looking at how we give our dogs the skills they need to do a top job, and how we keep them fit and well.

First we look at how we keep the dogs safe while on patrol.

Our vehicles

Our police dog unit vehicles look like an ordinary police car with the same markings, emergency blue lights and sirens, but they’re built to keep our dogs safe, ready and happy.

We want to get the best from our dogs so we make sure they are always healthy and well looked after.

There are two cages in the back of each dog unit car where the dogs sit when we take them out to a job. Often a handler has two differently skilled dogs so we can use the right dog for the jobs we’re called to.

To make sure the dogs are kept cool, the rear windows of the vehicle are covered with mirrored film, which reflects the heat. It also stops people being able to see in and distracting the dogs!

The vans have specially-fitted fans which either pump in or extract air to give the dogs a comfortable environment. The vans are also air conditioned and fitted with a system called 'run-lock.' This means we can keep the vehicle's engine running when the key is out of the ignition and pump cold air into the cages when the vehicle is unattended for a short time.

While on patrol

After a busy job, the dogs like having a rest in the vehicle but we make sure they’re not left in there for too long.

While we’re on patrol, the dogs have regular breaks. Their noses are so sensitive, we don’t want to overload the dogs so we make sure they have enough of a rest from work to refresh their sense of smell.

The dogs enjoy their work and, because of the way we train them, they see all the searching as a game.

More on how we train our dogs in the next update....

 

Thursday 13 May (day shift)

'Early on during our shift we were told that we would need to visit Chatham. In this case, local officers believed that there could be some drugs hidden and Snoop was just the dog for the job.

I put Snoop in the back of the dog van and we drove to the area. Once we arrived, I guided Snoop over to one side of the area that needed to be searched and he started to test as we walked along. Snoop is brilliant in focusing on the task despite any surround noise or activity.

Snoop searched trees and bushes, but nothing was found. By using Snoop like this, the local officers can eliminate the area from their enquiries and investigate other leads that have come in.

Later in the day, we were asked to search a vehicle for drugs. Snoop worked hard, giving the door panels, seats and boot a good search. It wasn’t long before Snoop had identified an area in the car which needed further examination. His hard work paid off, and a small amount of drugs and paraphernalia were found. Being able to use Snoop for these things is great - it saves both time and money.

 

Tuesday 11 May (day shift)

'Today was exam time for police dog Saxon. Our general police dogs are allocated 16 designated training days each year. I'll post some more information about how we train our dogs on here shortly'

 

Monday 10 May (night shift)

'It’s been a busy shift and we’ve helped officers on a number of occasions tonight. One incident involved a man who was known to be violent towards police. Thankfully, our presence helped ensure that officers could deal with the man without anyone, including the man, being injured.'

'While on patrol with Snoop, I’ve noticed that people are starting to leave their windows open as the weather gets warmer. Snoop and I urge you to read our top tips on minimising your risk of becoming a victim of crime - visit Protecting yourself, your home and your vehicles.'

'After a busy shift, the dogs were rested for a while and we ended the shift with some regular patrolling.'

 

Friday 7 May (night shift)

'Busy tonight with lots of revellers enjoying themselves. We were working in Thanet at the start of the shift, dealing with some minor incidents of disorder and keeping everything in check.

'The dogs and I were then called to a pub break-in where the offender(s) had broken in through the back of the property and left on foot. We searched the area nearby but they'd already disappeared.

'We then received a call from officers on patrol in Ramsgate. A building had been broken into and the alarm was sounding. It seemed the sound of the alarm had frightened off the offender(s) but they wanted me and OB to check. OB searched the building but, as suspected, the offender(s) were not to be found. We left officers looking for any clues to the offender(s) identify.'

 

Thursday 6 May (night shift)

Neil and Snoop were off duty today, as you can see from the pictures, so Neil's colleague Nigel and his dogs OB and Wrags were on duty.

Wrags is a Spaniel and, like Snoop, is good at finding drugs, cash and guns. OB is a German Shepherd.

'Tonight, Wrags and I were called to Margate after officers there stopped two men in a car on suspicion of having cannabis. Wrags searched the vehicle and did indeed find cannabis and cash. We were also asked to search the home of one of the men but found nothing more. That's one of the best things about using a dog to search - it's so much quicker. It would have taken officers a lot longer to search the car and house but it takes dogs like Wrags a fraction of the time.

'We were then called to Thanet where a building had been broken into and items had been taken. Officers and the air support unit believed two people involved had run off into the woods but it was a bit too dense for them to see clearly so they sent me and OB in. The officers' suspicions were confirmed when OB found two people in a heavily-wooded area.' 

 

Wednesday 5 May (night shift)

'It was a bit of a quiet night tonight. Snoop wasn't needed but I had a couple of call outs for Saxon.

Attended two reports of missing people during the shift - one was for a child who had been missing for an hour and the other a vunerable family member who couldn't be found - before we got to the jobs we heard over the radio that they had both returned home safe and well, which is great news.

Over the next couple of days I'm going to try and take pictures of both my police dogs. I'll post them up here so everyone can take a look. In the mean time why don't you watch our dog unit video to see us in action.'

 

Tuesday 4 May (night shift)

'I stopped a vehicle as it was being driven erratically last night and Snoop searched it as I thought I could smell cannabis. The driver admitted that he occasionally uses the drug and he had consumed drugs in the vehicle a couple of days before. Snoop didn't find any drugs on this occassion so I spoke to the driver about the dangers of drugs and consequences of drug-driving and let him continue with his journey.

After the vehicle search I drove Snoop to the Rochester area and completed a few training searches in and around the High Street.

My other dog, a German Shepherd general purpose dog called Saxon, was required for a couple of jobs last night. Our first call out was to provide back up at a disturbance, we had received reports that a man was threatening people in a house. On our arrival, we were told he had left the house and may be hiding in a park nearby, which he had done previously. I searched the area with Saxon but we couldn't find him. 

In the early hours of the morning we were asked to attend an area in Rainham, where a vehicle had been broken into. Luckily nothing had been stolen from the vehicle as the alarm had been activated. I patrolled the area but Saxon was unable to pick up the scent of the offender/s. The vehicle was preserved by officers for investigation, in the hope of gaining forensic evidence and bringing those responsible to justice.

 

Sunday 2 May (night shift)

'Tonight, Snoop and I started with some training in Medway. I was brushing up on Snoop's skill to find drugs hidden around vehicles, to get him used to working in that environment.

'At 2am, we were asked to attend a call in Gravesend. A driver had been stopped as it was believed they were over the legal alcohol limit and officers also believed the passenger may have had drugs on them. Snoop carried out a search of the vehicle and occupants and found a class A drug.

'The passenger was cautioned for a drug offence and the driver was bailed pending the outcome of a blood sample.'