On August the 4th 2009, Constable Scott Taylor, and Constable Scott McDonald of the Winnipeg Police Service Canine Unit ventured on a four day mission, to attend and jointly train with the Edmonton Police Service Canine Unit. EPS was running a parallel master handler course similar to the WPS program. The intentions of our trip were to learn from the EPS and share any knowledge we could in regards to the canine programs.
Over the course of our four days of training we were astounded by the EPS member’s dedication to their program. Everyday started with hard workouts, with long hours of training and short shift changes, there were no complaints. The pride in their unit was accentuated by the overwhelming sense of team work.
The 2 courses had their similarities but also their differences. It was nice to see the working relationship the Edmonton has with their local Schutzhund Club. They draw upon their expertise to assist in their aggression profile and by the performance of the canines, it obviously works.
The wearing of E-Collars is a requirement for all WPS patrol K-9’s, while working. The E-Collar is another valuable tool in the area of corrections and silent recalls. At this time the EPS does not employ the use of e-collars, however they were receptive to use of E-Collars. In the future we look forward to training with Edmonton in the use of this tool.
Both myself and Constable Scott Taylor were very impressed with the dedication of their quarry’s and the determination to get into there unit. Over the course of the training several of the Edmonton quarry’s showed up for the training days on their own time and attended to the training locations in their own vehicles. The Puppy rearing program is similar to that of WPS with one significant difference. The EPS Quarry starts and begins the tracking with his/her pup. In the WPS the track laying foundation is solely left in the hands of the trainer. This ensures that the new dog has solid uniform tracking foundation, and all of the pups have received the same training.
The quarry program is the cornerstone or foundation of our program. In the last year it had been stressed by the handlers in the WPS K-9 unit that it was time to bring some validity to our Quarry program. This included the development and production of the new Quarry Course which all members of the unit had a part in. With new leadership came renewed interest in our Program, 117 members applied for the course with officers attending from across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, North Dakota and Minnesota. The quarry’s played an active roll in this by acting as hospitality advisors to our out of town guests. A welcomed new addition to our Quarry program was compensating time, gone are the days of the Quarry’s using their personal time to help out with training. WPS quarries are given a day in lieu for assisting in the training of our canines for attendance on days off. The EPS K-9 unit thought this was a great idea.
The EPS canine unit arranged for both of us to go for a hop in AIR ONE, the helicopter that patrols Edmonton from the sky. Air One works very closely with the EPS canine unit, and up until 2009 they were stationed out of the kennels. A couple of the flight officers were retired K-9 handlers, which only seems fitting, as they brought the street experience and the necessary drive to catch the bad guy. The helicopter was an amazing tool; it could set up its own containment within minuets by orbiting above the crime scene, and then directed in the containment units, all while watching the suspects movements and hiding places on the FLIR system. Air One was able to alert the handler, or officers on the ground when they were closing in on the suspects hiding place.. The helicopter forces the suspect to go to ground and the K-9 team is left to do their thing. Also by having the flight officer set up the containment it allows the handler to concentrate on getting
to the scene safely. Hopefully in the near future the WPS will be obtaining a helicopter, and by staffing it appropriately and working closely with the K-9 unit it will be an invaluable tool in keeping Winnipeg’s streets safe.
A purpose of our mission was to inspect and photograph the EPS kennel facility and ask the members if there was anything that they would change. It was an amazing facility new and modern with numerous photographs that accentuated the pride in the unit. I have nothing to add in comparison to the kennel facilities as the WPS K-9 unit has no such facility.
In my humble opinion Joint Training with other agencies has long been overlooked. This should be an integral part of every K-9 units training program. So much can be learned from watching, asking and listening to your fellow handlers.
In conclusion it was apparent the similarities in K9 units from the dedication of its members to the administrative headaches that seem to do so much harm and take so long to clean up. As a unit we have had several discussions regarding Joint Training vs. Competition, and the consensus seems to be that as long as the day ends with a cold beverage. I will leave it for you to decide. As handlers we all know in that garbage filled dark alley, and face to face with the dirt bag the only trophy that counts is going home with your dog to your family.
Article also forwarded to CPCA Longline Magazine.
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