In the right hands, police dogs can help find missing people, explosives and drugs
IT IS perhaps the least known unit of the police, though its work is crucial in the fight against all sorts of crime. With accession to the European Union, the relaxation of controls at points of entry and the rise in terrorism, the role of the police ‘K-9 Unit’ becomes even more important in maintaining security and law and order.
The dog unit has existed since the island became independent in 1960, but it was only in 1978 that a serious effort was made to upgrade and organise it. Feeling the need for continuous modernisation in the structure and organisation of the unit, the force created district units with more specialisation.
The K-9 Unit today has 47 specialised dogs, which, along with their highly professional trainers, focus on four main areas: drugs, explosives, security and finding missing or wanted persons.
“Our mission is to co-operate with other branches, such as the drug squad or the bomb squad,” the unit’s chief, Superintendent Andreas Christodoulou, told the Sunday Mail.
Christodoulou explained that dogs at the airports and ports were constantly checking luggage without passengers ever knowing it.
Training is daily and includes highly specialised practice of real-life scenarios, rain or shine, day and night.
Exercise is also part of the daily schedule; it is not only important for the dog to gain physical stamina but it is also a time where bonding between canine and trainer takes place. All dogs need to be familiar with and trust all trainers, not only their individual ‘boss’.
Under Christodoulou’s supervision, the dogs undergo a daily programme that familiarises them with all sorts of situations.
“No matter how well trained, dogs always react to unknown situations,” he said.
For instance, a dog based at HQ would be nervous the first time it was taken to the airport. In a couple of situations, dogs have had to be flown by helicopter to remote Pyrgos to help find missing persons. But after the initial nervousness, they adapted and even “enjoyed the view,” Christodoulou said.
The unit co-operates closely with the American authorities, and trainers and dogs alike have often been trained in the United States.
Christodoulou said it would be difficult to put a price on a trained police dog.
Considering training, hours, food and so on the cost comes to the thousands of pounds.
“I don’t think of the cost; to me it’s the service provided when the dog finds a kilo of cocaine or an explosive,” Christodoulou said.
DOGS are chosen for a particular duty, depending on their personality traits.
They learn through habit and repetition, and their reward is food.
Labradors like to eat and are usually chosen to detect drugs and explosives, while German Shepherds are trained for security purposes, such as riot control.
Most canine members of the unit are donated by members of the public. The force says it cannot go out and buy dogs, partly because of the cost, but most importantly because of the possibility a dog will not make it, which would mean wasting taxpayers’ money.
Dogs begin their training at the age of seven or eight months and within a month trainers know if they are capable, Christodoulou said.
If they cut it, they serve an average of seven years with the force.
Dias (Zeus) is a seven-year-old black Labrador specialising in drug detection. He is a docile dog, which according to Christodoulou, actually fits better for explosives detection, but he is nevertheless very good at his job.
Drug detection canines are trained to bark, scratch or sit when they find drugs, while the explosives experts must sit the minute they find a bomb as any vibration or sound could trigger an explosion.
That is why docile dogs are preferred for explosives, Christodoulou said.
Dias was 100 per cent accurate in finding the drugs hidden by his trainer Alexis Papaioannou inside the ‘wheel’ and the 70-hole wooden wall at the training centre. In all cases he either sat, alerting his trainer, or scratched the wall next to hole where the drug was hidden.
We could not help laughing as he jumped up and down like a spring, shoving his nose inside the hole hoping for a reward (food) every time he found something.
For training purposes, officers place drugs in just two of the wall’s holes while other substances like pepper, mothballs or even the scent of a bitch are placed in the other holes in order to train the dog to distinguish scents and steer clear of distractions.
Enter Dara, a golden-coloured Labrador cross-breed who had already eaten. This did not stop her from demanding full reward every time she found hidden drugs.
Dara barks when she detects the drugs.
She was a bit distracted by the Sunday Mail photographer – looking over her shoulder, though still doing her job — but Christodoulou explained that that was because she was not used to the presence of strangers during training.
The officers then brought in Ike (Eisenhower). A strong-bodied canine specialising in the detection of explosives. Ike too put on a perfect display of his abilities, each time sitting down next to the explosive, patiently awaiting his reward.
The dogs in the unit can detect any explosive device containing even just one known ingredient.
Christodoulou said Labradors were also preferred for these kinds of duties due to their friendliness.
They cope better with people and in some cases, like airports, they have to work in a crowd.
We then moved on to the exercise ground, where officers Alexandros Georgiou and Panayiotis Panayiotou released the dogs to ‘play’.
The ground had to be evacuated when Carlos made his appearance.
Carlos, a well-built five-year-old German Shepherd, the smallest of three at the HQ branch, is trained for security purposes – riot control — and did not seem too keen on socialising.
The German Shepherds all have their own handler and you would not want to go near them without the handler present.
Christodoulou explained that their trainer’s job was all to do with trust.
“Dogs do not talk; they expect everything from us,” he said.
Trainers must love dogs to be in this job.
THE K-9 unit has had its share of significant successes throughout the years, though only grab the attention of the media.
One such case was back in 1996, when Bruno, a bloodhound, tracked down an 87-year-old lady who had gone astray from her old people’s home in Strovolos, Nicosia.
Bruno discovered the woman in dense growth around 500 metres from the home, semi-conscious and frozen.
Bruno was credited with another successful mission a year later when he found a missing man from Sycopetra.
Apart from the drugs they find so often, the canines also helped track down a burglar who had apparently cut his hand and left tracks all the way to his house.
“Their sense of smell is amazing,” Christodoulou said.
“They are so sensitive that you can train them to sense when an epileptic person is about to have a fit and to warn them to take their medication or go to hospital,” Christodoulou said.
As we left, we reluctantly parted company with Dias, Dara, Ike, Carlos, Pebbles, Charlie, Theo and the rest of the gang, who had to return to their daily schedule with the officers, hoping one day to see them display their abilities in a life-saving or crime-busting mission.
