Police Minister Michael Woodhouse will present graduating certificates to four new patrol dog teams at the Police Dog Training Centre in Trentham on Thursday 19 November.
The graduation ceremony is the culmination of around ten months’ training for each patrol dog team, during which dogs undergo obedience exercises and are taught to track, search for people and property, and apprehend violent or dangerous suspects.
The teams graduating on Thursday are:
· Constable Tom Byrne with ‘Lex’, from Christchurch
· Constable Elyse Lewis with ‘Mist’, from Dunedin
· Senior Constable Jason Page with ‘Luke’, from Whanganui
· Sergeant Guy Baldwin with ‘Capo’, from Auckland
Constable Byrne will be graduating with his first dog and is greatly looking forward to getting to work with Lex.
Constable Lewis is also graduating with her first dog. Constable Lewis’ graduation makes her only the second female dog handler currently working in NZ Police.
Constable Page is one of the stars of the most recent episodes of Dog Squad, alongside his previous dog Farris, who sadly died of cancer earlier this year, just a few months shy of retirement.
Sergeant Baldwin is one of NZ Police’s most experienced dog handlers and is also well-known for his Police Ten-7 advice to ‘always blow on the pie’.
The graduation ceremony will take place at the Police Dog Training Centre, Dante Road, Trentham, at 2pm on Thursday 19 November.
Media are welcome to attend the ceremony. Please confirm attendance to Rachel.Purdom@police.govt.nz.
ENDS
Media contact: Rachel Purdom, Public Affairs, Police National Headquarters - 021 908 101.