Police Dogs - South Australia

[Paul]

Police Dog.

My first experience with the genial Bobby occurred in the late 1940’s, just three years old I escaped from home and was making my way to my grandparent's house. Even at that very early age I had the gift of finding my way to a place that I had already visited, I can honestly say that in the whole of my life I have never been lost, though often I was mislaid.

Having supposedly been bedded down for the night, I escaped through the front door to begin my very first solo adventure to visit granny, she with the permanent lolly in her hand, soft cuddles and who smelled comfortably of spicy snuff.

I managed to negotiate a main road, round a corner, only to be confronted by a man in a blue uniform whose helmet touched the sky. I think at the time I was about kneecap high. I remember his words to this day, "What are you doing out little man?"

This guy was a genius, how did he know that I was a little man, because much to my embarrassment, from birth until I was about eleven years of age, I had curls that girls would have killed for. His recognition was due to the fact that the only apparel I was wearing was a shimmy, (cotton vest) and my growing manhood was visible for all to see.

I remember nothing more of this meeting other than being plucked by two huge hands from the pavement and carried to the dizzying height of his arms. To this day I can remember the warm comforting smell of his clothing as he held me and the secure loving way he carried me back to my home.

That one solitary experience locked two things into my memory bank, trust and respect. Happily, that trust and respect of Police has followed me all my life, where indeed would we be without them?

Every member of the public has an opinion on their respective Police Force. Some of those opinions are detrimental, others are good. Whatever the reader's opinion, I have generally found in my more than half a century on this planet, that 99.99% of the Police Officers I have had dealings with, are hardworking, honest, fair and deserve more support than we as a public are generally willing to give. In the whole of my life I consider that I have only been treated unfairly by a police officer twice but, that was far outweighed by the times I was treated more than fairly for the minor traffic offences I committed. It is also gratifying to know that those two officers, who did treat me unfairly, are no longer serving members.

Australia is my adopted land, South Australia my home, and I consider that its Police Force is amongst the finest in the world.

The lot of a police officer is not an easy one, the job is fraught with more stress than most and there is no doubt that our police have to be more resilient than the average person.

Situated close to the parklands that surround the City of Adelaide is the Thebarton Police Barracks. The antiquated group of buildings nestling quietly in an almost country like atmosphere belies the sharp edge of technology that rests within its walls.

Thebarton Police Barracks is the home of the famous Police Greys, those magnificent horses that always look so good on ceremonial occasions. They are not purely for display though, their riders are experts in crowd control. The barracks is also home to the Police Band, the Armoury and Star Force, an elite team of Police Officers who are capable of handling any situation from a domestic dispute to major acts of terrorism.

The Traffic Section of the Police Dept is also housed in the barracks and hundreds of South Australians can daily vouch for their efficiency and equipment when receiving infringement notices for speeding and running red lights. Those same motorists are glad though when they are rescued from the wrecks of their vehicles by the very same Police Officers.

So, from the sharp edge of technology to the sharp teeth of a modern Police Force, because Thebarton Barracks is also home to the South Australian Police Dog Patrol Unit.

I was fortunate enough to spend some time with Sergeant John Dennett, an experienced handler who has been with the Dog Unit from its inception back in 1972. I arrived at the barracks just in time to witness a demonstration conducted by John Dennett, his dog Zac, and the section's dog trainer, Senior Constable Gordon Smith.

After passing through the kennel section, we entered a paddock situated behind the barracks adjoining the parklands. This is where part of the training is conducted. The trainer suitably protected by padding
made his way to the far end of the paddock. John Dennett with Zac by his side then called on the trainer to surrender. (Actually he called something different,the Police have to play as well, so I will not embarrass them by telling what was actually said.)

The trainer played dumb, he was again called on to surrender but to no avail, after the third call Zac was sent in, his speed can only be described as an arrow flying from a very taught bow.

I would like to advise you now, that if you are ever called upon by a Police Officer to follow a direction he has given, and that Police Officer has a dog with him, you would be very foolish indeed to ignore that direction.

Trainer Gordon Smith is a well built and fit man, but
I watched him physically reel when he was hit by a 40 kilo German Shepherd who was traveling at some 35 kilometres an hour across the open ground. Zac hit him on the right forearm and held. Had the trainer struggled to free his arm, Zac's jaws would have closed even firmer.

Zac's handler was not idle while the action was taking place, for as Zac leapt forward, John Dennett was hot on his heels.

This was not just a dog and a man, Zac and John can only be likened to a highly precisioned piece of equipment, totally efficient, fully oiled and undeterred by the task on hand.

As John called Zac off, the trainer aimed a mock blow at the handler, even if it had been a real blow it would have never found its target. Without command, Zac hit the trainer like an express train and once again, I watched him reel from the power of the blow.

For those among you with criminal inclinations let me warn you, that the only one who can stop a commenced attack by a Police Dog is the handler. Once the attack is committed you can do nothing to stop the dog except surrender to the handler who may have time to recall the dog. The safest and simplest way is merely to obey the police officer's instructions and prevent the attack happening in the first place.

The most foolhardy thing any offender could do is to attempt an assault on the handler. Police Dogs are very well trained, they are taught to seize and hold, but they are individuals. An assault on their handler would bring on a trained response, repeated assault could give rise to dire consequences for an offender.

You wouldn't just be attacking a policeman and dog handler, you would be attacking the dog's master, the person who means more to the dog than life itself. The continually reinforced training would only last for so long, a repeated attack on the handler could find the felon fighting for his very life, and that's the way it should be.

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[Paul]

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Sergeant John Dennett sort of "fell in" to his roll as a police officer. Having taken advantage of a Government subsidized apprenticeship scheme he joined the Police Force and the newly formed dog squad. The dogs at that time were a totally new method of policing and John felt that he had an affinity for the job and the animals.

Police Dogs live with their handlers and do in fact become part of the Police Officer's family. John and Zac are no exception except that Zac has to share John's love with his previous dog who has now retired and is living out his twilight years in the comfort of John's home.

In the twenty plus years of the Dog Unit's history, there has never been a problem with dogs in the home. Children of the household are taught to respect the dogs ensuring that the whole acts as an integrated family unit. There is of course another reason that the dogs live with their handlers. The dog units are always in great demand, handlers are often recalled to duty and having their dog with them saves a great deal of time.

Why the German Shepherd?

I was interested to learn why most police forces in the world used German Shepherds, for there are far more powerful, aggressive dogs that they could select.

Generally the Shepherd is considered to be the best breed of dog for all-round police work. The average person has a fear of them; they are intelligent and of a reasonable size. Size? I thought to myself, "Surely the bigger the dog the better".

I was soon put straight on the size issue. It is far easier to give the Shepherd a boost up over a fence or wall than it would be a full grown Rottweiller. I, like most, did not realize just what sort of situations the police and their dogs get themselves into.

Imagine chasing an offender through backyard suburbia
and having to give your dog a boost up over the fences. A German Shepherd at 40 kilos would be bad enough without contending with half as much weight again.

The selection of a dog for the South Australian Police consists of four very simple requirements. It must look like a German Shepherd, it does not have to be a pedigree. The dog must willingly retrieve objects, show no fear and indicate that it has the ability to use his nose. You noticed that I said "his nose".

All the dogs used by the South Australian Police are
males, and before the feminist among you start to get uptight and complain about sexual equality, there is a reason. A bitch comes on heat for a four week period twice a year and that renders them useless for that period of time. Crime doesn't stop and it is essential that the dogs are able to work at 100 percent capacity.

Training.

Training is conducted by the dog's handler under the guidance of an experienced trainer, the trainer having little or nothing to do with the dog, for that would only be dividing the dog’s loyalty.

Once fully trained, the dog becomes an accredited Police Dog, but they still receive five to six days a month training which is ongoing, until they retire.

Life is not easy for the handlers either, twice a year they are required to complete a fitness test which they must pass.

On asking John Dennett how he managed to stay fit his answer was a simple, "All I have to do is keep up with the dog". Zac must be doing a good job, for John Dennett would have to be the fittest 52 year old I have ever met.

Training sessions have their dangers also, handlers and trainers may receive the occasional bite, these are called training accidents and are expected as part of the job. One training session however, turned into a nightmare for John Dennett.

John and his colleagues had just finished putting six
un-accredited dogs through a training session when the last one to complete the required task rushed in to attack him. John tells me that as soon as he saw the dog coming he knew he was in trouble. He was right, the dog attacked Johns lower leg and arm.

I have already described what a trained police dog is capable of, this almost trained dog so savagely attacked John that he spent 10 days in hospital, had to have 9 skin grafts to repair his lower leg and received 50 stitches in his arm.

The pain of that episode was twofold, there was the physical one and the mental one, for John had the utmost faith in the dog that attacked him. The anguish of misplaced trust can hurt just as much as physical pain.

In line with Police Department regulations, the dog that attacked John was never given accreditation. Only those dogs that can be fully trusted earn that status.

The actual training methods used are something of a secret, and that is the way they should remain.
Secrecy prevents some back yard hero teaching his dog to attack anything and everything in sight. There is no need to go to those extremes, dogs are naturally protective of their extended families and property.

South Australian Police Dogs are trained rigorously in the following:

Tracking - Searching - Property Search - Evidence Search - Detecting Soft Drugs - Chase & Attack - Grab & Hold - and to protect their handler.

On The Job

Attempting to get the police to talk about case histories is a little bit like drawing teeth from hens. I suppose I can understand that. Some of their cases are sensitive and they would rather the public not know about them for obvious reasons.

They are also very modest about the work they perform. What tends to be normal everyday life for them, is unusual for the public. To spend three, four or more hours on foot tracking and searching for an offender is almost part of their daily routine. Dull, mundane and hard work it may be for them but very interesting to the public whom they serve.

One cannot blame the police for being tight lipped. So often they have been misrepresented in word and deed that I am not surprised at their reluctance to divulge information.

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[Paul]

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Drug Bust

Drugs have to be the most major social issue of our time and many man hours of police time are dedicated to prevent persons dealing in drugs, illegally.

In a recent case, the Drug Squad had followed a courier from interstate to a property in South Australia. Gathering the appropriate search warrants and additional manpower, the property was then duly raided.

Everything went as planned, the offenders were there but after repeated searches of the property and outbuildings, the drugs could not be found.

Finally, the dog patrol unit was called in. A short time later a dog located the drugs in a shed that had previously been searched. The fine tuning of the canine nose uncovered a large amount of drugs, the street value sufficient to keep several of us in luxury for a few years. The offenders, well I suppose you could say, "they were done like a dog's dinner".

Keeping a nose above water.

Rising in the Great Dividing Ranges, the mighty Murray River flows 2,600 km west and southward towards the sea before expiring into the Southern Ocean at Goolwa, South Australia.

Providing irrigation for thirsty farmlands and orchards, the Murray River is also a recreational playground for many Australians.

Australians have a quaint custom of obtaining land in quite secluded spots along the Murray and other areas and erecting what we laughingly call Shacks. The original shacks were built of scrap materials and furnished with outdated furniture to provide an ideal weekend getaway.

The original shacks were isolated and not really secure, but that didn't matter because there was nothing really worth stealing from them anyway. Today it's a much different story, many of the shacks have been rebuilt with modern materials, have all the conveniences, and are furnished with expensive decorations.

The isolation of these shacks makes them a soft target for thieves, but the Rural Watch program and our ever vigilant Police Force is well abreast of the problem.

Coming on toward nightfall, two offenders decided to take advantage of a soft target and began to interfere with a shack. They were spotted and the police were called to the scene. Patrol cars approached along the road and a police boat was sent out onto the river.

In eminent danger of being caught, the offenders took to the scrub with the possible intention of attempting to swim the river. South Australia, unlike some other parts of the world, does not have that lingering twilight. Simply, when the sun drops below the horizon, it's dark. The River Murray at the best of times can be dangerous and to stumble blindly through the scrub in the dark is not an exercise I would recommend.

The Police Patrol on the scene called for the assistance of the dog patrol unit and it was not long before John Dennett and Zac arrived on the scene. Starting at the shack, it wasn't long before Zac, following the scent flushed the first offender out of the scrub.

All the movies we have ever watched tell us that if you are being tracked by a dog, head for water. Perhaps offender number two had seen those movies, after all, you couldn't get a much bigger body of water than the River Murray. Subsequently, I am inclined to think that Zac had watched the same movies also.

Zac led John for some distance through the scrubland at the side of the river, eventually Zac stopped and indicated that there was someone in the water.

Using a torch to guide the boat and a radio for communication, John signaled the boat to approach the bank on which he was standing.

As the boat approached the spot where John stood, one of the boat's operators kneeling on the bow of the police launch, continually stabbed deep into the water with an oar. Eventually the oar connected and up bubbled offender number two who had been submerged and was taking air through a hollow reed.

Zac had known exactly where the offender was. He had tracked his scent until he had entered the water and when Zac indicated the offender’s position, it was probably because he could scent the expired air coming from the reed.

The Dog's Nose.

The sensitivity of the canine nose is astonishing. The dog can smell some odors as little as one part per trillion. Comparison of our ability to smell can be likened to the difference between a hot air balloon and a Stealth Fighter plane.

A chemical released by the human body when it perspires is butyric acid. Drop one gram of this (a very tiny amount) over a 10 story building and you would just get a whiff of it at the moment of release. Spread the same amount over an area the size of the City of Adelaide, a dog could smell it anywhere, even to an altitude of 300 feet.

Another important factor about a dog’s nose is that it is not subject to fatigue. When we humans enter a smelly situation the odor is strong but our senses gradually screen out the scent until we can smell it no longer. This does not happen with a dog, that is why they are so good at tracking scents that may be hour's or even day's old.

Technologically advanced as man is, clinical tests on a dog's sense of smell are almost impossible to conduct because the instruments used would be inferior to the subject that was being studied.

Is it any wonder then, why the dog is such a valuable addition to police strength. Flexible, faithful, obedient, providing protection for the community and companionship for their handler. May Robocop never replace Fidocop.

On the lighter side, my final question of John Dennett
related to Zac answering the call of nature. Owning two dogs that will literally pee anywhere, how did he cope when they were on public display?

The answer was simple, Zac was allowed to go in the morning, lunch time and at night, to raise his leg in public was a definite no.

At the time of writing, no member of the South Australian Dog Patrol Unit or their dogs have received serious injury in the line of duty. Considering their almost daily involvement in fighting crime and the dangerous situations they often find themselves in, it testifies to their skill and relationship with their dogs.

Many South Australian Police Officers have not been so lucky, it is to them and their families that this section of the book is dedicated.

© Media Production Services. Paul Springthorpe - extracted from, ‘It’s a Dog’s Life,’ 1990. All rights reserved.