New Zealand police welcomed four new patrol dog partnerships after a graduation celebration this afternoon at the Police Dog Training Centre at Trentham, Wellington. 

They marked the occasion formally in front of whānau and friends after extensive training and will be out in districts next week.

Also in attendance were several members of the New Zealand Police executive.

Graduating from the police patrol dog course are one first-time handler and three experienced. The four handlers will be deployed to Canterbury and Northland Districts.

One experienced officer heading to Canterbury is Constable Matt MacDougall graduating with his third operational dog 18-month-old Hutch. Matt has previously worked as a training instructor at the Dog Training Centre and now heads back to the frontline.

“My first dog Jag, and I, who I fostered from eight weeks worked together in Christchurch, and I trained him right through to AOS standard. When I moved to Blenheim, I took over a dog called Piro. We covered the whole Tasman area for AOS.

This new pup Hutch is the easiest dog I have trained and he’s exceptionally good at his job.”

Graduating with his third dog and heading back to Canterbury is Constable Sam Campbell who says “I've missed working on the street with a dog over the last ten months of training.

Oku has the makings of a good police dog and I have a lot of confidence in how he'll develop on the street, we're both fizzing to get into it.” 

Another Canterbury-bound team is Constable Josh Yeoman and his second dog Gusto.

Constable Ihaka Watene and his dog Gamma are heading to Northland to work.

Assistant Commissioner Jill Rogers congratulated them all. 

“It’s a proud day for all four teams.  This occasion marks the end of your formal training to become an operational team and signals the next step toward frontline duties, one of you for the first time and others, more experienced but with new dogs.

Although you will be out on the road, the training does not stop, with further opportunities for you and your dog to attend and qualify to join other specialist squads.

Congratulations -  you’ll all be first-rate assets in your districts and communities.”

Inspector Todd Southall, National Coordinator Police Dogs, says “There is a huge amount of institutional knowledge and expertise held with your dog section supervisors in districts, which you can use to advance the performance of you and your dog to improve operational effectiveness.

You’re at the pointy end of frontline policing and a pivotal component in our Tactical Response Model. We are grateful for all your work.