Police dog unit gets new recruits
THE POLICE dog team which serves Hinckley and Bosworth has enlisted four new recruits.
The quartet of officers and their canine companions have successfully passed a 13-week handlers course.
They all work for the East Midlands Operational Support Service (EMOpSS) and will be joining police colleagues across Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire - the four forces which make up EMOpSS.
Following a rigorous selection process and completion of the initial course they were all put through their paces by an independent assessor - John Best from the Police Dog Training School in Surrey who has 40 years of experience working with police dogs.
The four officers and dogs were tested as a team on tracking for people, building searches, obedience, agility, chasing and detaining suspects and property searches for discarded items.
John’s endorsement means the teams meet the national standards for safety, efficiency and control which is a high accolade.
Inspector Annie Reavley from EMOpSS Dog Unit said: “I am incredibly proud of our four new dog handlers, each one of them has shown great aptitude and commitment and worked really hard throughout the course. They all deserved to pass and I know, now that they have their license, they are really looking forward to getting out on patrol.
“It is great to see officers who have come with a variety of different policing backgrounds and experience and they will all be an asset to an already great team of dog handlers.”
The new recruits are PC Lucy Sculthorpe (Northamptonshire) and 15-month-old Harper a German Shepherd, PC James Coupland (Nottinghamshire) and two-year-old Floyd a black German Shepherd, PC Aran Gibbs (Leicestershire) and 15-month-old Hope a sable European Shepherd, PC Jennie Ellse (Nottinghamshire) and 18-month-old Quantum a black German Shepherd.
Quantum was donated to EMOpSS by South Yorkshire Police following the death in service of police dog Rebus almost one year ago. Rebus was struck by a police 4x4 while chasing suspects in Colnwick, Nottingham. Harper and Hope are sisters.