WA Police will be aided by the crew from Top Gun, in the form of its new Belgian Shepherd puppies Maverick, Goose and Jester.
Following their first birthday, the 12-week-old dogs will undergo 18 weeks of intense training that will cover obedience, narcotics detection and general duties.
Canine Unit officer in charge Glen Potter said training the new breed in multiple fields, which was something that had not yet been done in other states, would significantly increase the force’s capability.
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READ NOW“It is a new initiative that these dogs will be trained to do both narcotics detection and general purpose duties which will increase our capability significantly.” he said.
WA Police currently have 44 working dogs that in the past week have aided in detecting about 1.4kg of methamphetamines, 1.2kg of cannabis, 500g of cocaine, $48,000 in cash and assisted in about 28 arrests.
Senior Sergeant Potter said the new breed had a working life of eight to 10 years.
“We are always on the look out for the right breed and will continue to search for more pups looking ahead to 2020,” he said.
Maverick, Goose and Jester are expected to be working with full time handlers by 2019.
Their training will cost the Department more than $100,000 according to Sgt Potter.
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