Dogs add bite to crime fight

Police dogs are being sent in as a tool to support South and Port Hedland police in their attempts to drive down crime and keep the community safe.

The dogs have been operating on a rotational basis with their handlers, who provide ongoing training to maintain and raise the dogs’ skills.

Port Hedland Sergeant Jayd Morawski said the handler of the police dog had a role to support and provide assistance when needed.

He said police dogs created a different patrol method and offered different abilities to police the town.

“The results speak for themselves,” he said.

“Having the police dog handler and the police dog in town is fantastic for us.

“The deterrent effect is the biggest thing that comes with a police dog because he is quite intimidating. Having him around deters people from doing something silly.

“When police go to a volatile job that has a heightened risk, he attends as back up and has the dog there to support and provide assistance if and as required.”

Sgt Morawski said the presence of the dog alone had prevented crime from escalating because they had the capacity to track offenders and search for missing people.

He said police dogs created a different mindset for people who would commit crimes because they knew the dog could chase them faster than an officer could.

“The police dog is going to catch them, it’s going to bite them,” he said.

“It has better senses, smell and better hearing.”