The £500k police dogs to take down terrorists
Police are secretly training Britain’s first unit of attack dogs to hunt down terrorists in the event of a marauding attack.
Known euphemistically as ‘conflict management’ dogs, the animals – which cost more than £500,000 each – are trained specifically to bite terror suspects to detain them.
Scotland Yard has spent more than £1million on a pilot scheme training two Belgian malinois to be deployed as a ‘less lethal force’ to stop terrorists in their tracks.
Smaller than German shepherds, the highly specialist canines are able to be parachuted out of helicopters with their handlers and are capable of tracking down targets amid the flash and bangs of grenades or the sound of gunfire.
Now the Metropolitan Police wants to expand the project so each of its eight counter terrorism units has one of the dogs after they proved a huge success in trials, which began in April last year.
The pilot has been modelled on the use of the dogs by the SAS and US Navy Seals. A malinois called cairo was attached to Seal Team Six, which killed osama Bin laden.
Bought as puppies, the elite animals are so vicious they cannot be trained or housed with other police dogs. each dog has its own handler who is on call 24 hours a day.
currently the Met has only two of the dogs. The animals cost more than £500,000 each, with this covering their training and a dedicated vehicle. But the Met’s Specialist Firearms command hopes to train more to be used during raids instead of Tasering or shooting a suspect who poses a serious threat. Their use of this tactic must be authorised by a superintendent who weighs up the risk the suspect poses to officers and the public.
The animals are trained to subdue the target by biting them on parts of the body such as the ankle.
it is the first time in the UK attack dogs whose duty is specifically to bite the offender have been used.
Deputy Assistant commissioner Matt Twist, head of the Met’s armed uplift programme, said: ‘it’s really important that we constantly look for ways to develop our response to terrorists … The development of these dogs has been part of this.’
Scotland Yard said: ‘This is part of ongoing work to ensure the [Met] is using all possible tactical options to deal with the highest threats, including a marauding terrorist attack.’