Ruff justice comes to region
The Kimberley District Police Force has gained a formidable, four-legged addition in 2019.
Hank, a 14-month-old Belgian Malinois, has joined the ranks as the region’s first permanently deployed police dog.
He is set to arrive in his new home of Broome this week to begin bonding with his new handler before beginning his duties in April.
Securing Hank was the last official duty for outgoing District Superintendent Allan Adams, who will begin his new duties as Commander for Regional WA this month.
“There was a high demand to get a police dog for the District to help officers out with their normal policing responsibilities,” Commander Adams said.
“We reached out to Commissioner Chris Dawson in July and put forward the proposition that the Kimberley should be resourced like a lot of our country brothers and sisters across the State, which included a canine asset.”
Cdr Adams, who has nicknamed Hank “the wonder dog”, said Hank would be going through several months of bonding with his new handler and intense training to eventually serve as a “dual-purpose dog”, which would include tracking people and detecting narcotics.
“It is an intense schedule but we want to make sure we get the most out of Hank, especially since he’ll be in different situations to your typical pet,” he said.
While Hank will call Broome home, he will be a regular visitor to all towns across the Kimberley.
“We’re really happy with securing Hank and we will look at how effective he is in helping deal with our workload,” Cdr Adams said.
Hank will also be paying visits to schools and community groups in an effort to engage with the community.
“As much as Hank will be a very important policing asset, we want the community to see Hank as their dog,” Cdr Adams said.
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