A fur-ocious July for GMP’s Dog Unit

The talents of Greater Manchester Police’s (GMP) canine companions are an invaluable crime-fighting tool for the force.

GMP’s Tactical Dog Unit currently have 27 general purpose dogs and 12 search dogs, which are deployed alongside their handlers, to a wide variety of both planned and spontaneous incidents.

Each police dog is trained in a number of roles and disciplines, including being able to detect drugs, money, firearms, human remains and blood. All of these specialities require extensive training to ensure the dog is capable of successful detection.

The team is made up of a mixture of Belgian and German Shepherds, Malinois as General Purpose Dogs, with breeds such as Springer Spaniels being used for specialist searching.

Last month, the our four-legged friends were involved variety of incidents and operations from discovering hidden quantities of cash and drugs, to tracking down an offender who threw a machete at officers.

Here are a few of the highlights:

PD Rodney finds £500k

PD Rodney proved invaluable during a search, sniffing out £500k hidden in a void in a wall at a property in Rochdale.

 

PD Will is a triple threat

PD Will proved ‘when there is a will there is a way’ when he tracked down an offender who had thrown a machete at officers. He then located a stolen motorbike at an address where two further offenders were also arrested.

 

 

PD Kyp locates wanted offender

Following a high speed crash in the Hindley area, a male who made off carrying a chainsaw was quickly tracked down by Kyp, and was confirmed to be an offender who had been wanted for over two years. He was subsequently arrested for multiple offences.

 

PD Storm outruns burglar, and discovers large machete

A pursuit commenced after a stolen vehicle was spotted, and had also been involved in a shooting. The offender tried to flee, but was swiftly outrun and detained by PD Storm, and a large machete was also recovered.

 

PD’s Jax and Storm qualify as Firearms Support Dogs

Along with Specialist Firearms Officers PC Ernesto Ceraldi and PC Steve Cowley, Police Dogs Jax and Storm are now trained to attend a range of live Firearms incidents.

 

PD’s Spud and Jimmy welcome HRH Queen Elizabeth

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth visited Manchester at the start of July, and Spud and Jimmy helped roll out the red carpet as they ensured a warm and safe welcome. Here they can be seen at Manchester Cathedral, looking all paw-sh and ready for action…

Want to see more? GMP Tactical Dog Unit have their own Twitter page with regular updates on the great work our dogs and their handlers do, day in, day out.