Ten new dog teams from Police and Customs have graduated today from the New Zealand Police Dog Training Centre in Trentham to embark on duties protecting our borders and communities.
Five new delta teams from Police and five detector dog teams from Customs were joined in celebration by their whānau and friends after many weeks of extensive training.
In attendance were the Associate Minister of Police and Minister of Customs, the Hon Casey Costello, several members of the New Zealand Police executive and Customs leadership team, members of the Australian Federal Police, and the Australian Border Force.
The newly graduated police dogs will benefit Central, Bay of Plenty, Eastern, and Canterbury Police Districts. Customs' new detector dogs will be based in Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster shares his congratulations to the new teams.
"Congratulations to all teams, Police and Customs - it's a proud day for you and thank you for your commitment to prevent crime and harm in New Zealand.
"I would like to acknowledge our longstanding and very successful partnerships with Customs and the Australian Border Force, and the work we have been doing through these partnerships on dog detection capability in New Zealand and the Pacific region.
"This recognises that the work we do together is essential for better outcomes, within New Zealand, at our borders, and further afield. We've seen many great examples of our combined work including recent record-breaking interceptions of methamphetamine at the border," says Mr Coster.
"To our five first-time graduating Patrol Dog handlers, my sincere congratulations on becoming an operational team, soon to be out on the road attending jobs. You have worked long and hard, and we know you play a key role in the way we police very volatile and dynamic situations on the frontline. To have made it to this point you must be skilled, effective teams, so well done to you all."
Chief Executive and Comptroller of Customs, Christine Stevenson says the five Customs detector dog teams will provide another crucial layer of defence to protect New Zealand's borders and play a vital role in keeping communities safe by helping in the fight against transnational crime.
"Customs' new graduates will be a significant boost to our detector dog capacity, and we are proud to have them join us. While they will be based in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, the teams can expect to be agile in deployments to key border points across the country."
Inspector Todd Southall, National Coordinator Police Dogs, adds the new teams have worked incredibly hard in their respective areas and on all their formal courses to qualify as operational today.
"I know you police teams have a passion for working with dogs and a real drive to be successful and that was evident when you helped catch three burglars alongside front-line staff at Trentham Racecourse while still on your training course. You were in the right place at the right time and proved your worth. https://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/burglars-scratched-trentham-race...
Thank you for your commitment to what is such an integral part of policing in New Zealand and keeping our communities safe," says Todd.
The teams will start in district next week.
Constable Connor Loomans is bound for Gisborne. Connor is graduating with two-year-old Patrol Dog Ruki.
"It's always challenging working with an animal as some things are out of your control, but we have done hours of hard work and training and it is hugely rewarding when everything goes well" says Connor.
Joining Constable Loomans in Gisborne is Constable Jarom Brouwer who is graduating with three and a half-year-old Tahi. Central District will see Constable Jordie Walker based in New Plymouth with four-year-old dog Acure.
Constable Mike Limbrick will be based in Rotorua, Bay of Plenty District, with three and a half-year-old Ryka and Canterbury-bound Constable Andrew Lomax is graduating with his first operational dog 18-month-old Aero.
