The force presently has 14 German Shepherds and two Malinios. A number of the dogs have been 'gifts' from members of the public whilst others have been purchased.

General purpose police dogs start their training when they are between 12 and 24 months old and will work until they are between six and seven-years-old.

Each dog receives a minimum of 13 weeks’ intensive training and must be licensed by an ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers) assessor before becoming operational. Each dog receives a minimum of 16 days’ training per year and must be re-licensed every year. Handlers also carry out further training on a day to day basis.

As their name suggests, general purpose police dogs can be used for a wide variety of roles.

Their core roles are:

• Searching for missing people either in the open or in buildings


• Searching buildings and open areas for criminals fleeing from the police


• Searching for property


• Tracking a criminal by following the scent pattern away from a crime scene


• Crowd control


• Chase and detain fleeing criminals


• All general purpose dogs are trained to work with police support units