It is difficult to imagine modern-day policing without the assistance of police dogs. They have become our loyal and invaluable assistants in providing security and performing the most demanding general and specialised tasks. These include providing public safety at events attended by crowds, controlling the state border, searching for missing persons, chasing down criminals and protecting their handlers in dangerous situations.
The Service Dog Training Section within the Police Academy plays a key role in the development of police cynology, purchasing, breeding and training police dogs. The section also provides training for police dog handlers and veterinary care to all animals serving the police.
Police dog handlers perform the full range of normal police duties. Their focus is on maintaining public order, through observation, but they are also an effective tool in controlling mass violations of public order and in securing public gatherings involving a higher degree of risk.
Dogs in particular are effective in searching for missing persons and supporting criminal investigators and forensic practitioners. Additionally, police dog handlers and mounted police officers participate in prevention campaigns in schools and kindergartens to promote the police profession. Four-legged assistants always make an impression.
Dogsâ noses make the best detectors
Specialised tasks are those in which dogs use their trained sense of smell to find various substances or items such as illicit drugs and explosives, firearms, cartridge cases, biological traces, and bodies. They are even able to detect the source of a fire.
Due to innate attributes such as their sense of smell, which is immeasurably better than that of humans, the exceptional ability to discriminate odours, better night vision and more developed hearing, dogs are sometimes more effective than technical instruments. Their presence often has a deterrent effect on potential perpetrators, discouraging them from committing a crime. A close bond between the police dog and its handler is crucial for canine policing.
Preventive and promotional work is just one of the tasks of police dog handlers and mounted police officers. Police dogs and horses attract a lot of attention, in particular from children, who are most impressed by them - providing a way for police officers to bring their work closer to youngsters.
The majority of Slovenian police dogs and their handlers work under the command of police stations or police dog handler units within regional police directorates, in the Special Unit, and in specialised national border control units and the Security and Protection Centre.
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Short review of the Service Dog Training Section development
