Police dogs play a vital role in police work, doing much more than just tracking offenders and locating people who are lost or injured.

The dogs search for property that has been discarded from the scene of a crime and provide a strong deterrent and calming influence at scenes of public disorder. They are also actively involved in school liaison work and a variety of public relations activities.

Dogs help the police in their primary role: preventing and detecting crime and maintaining the peace.

We currently have 72 operational dogs. German Shepherds, Rottweillers and Malinois dogs account for 49 of these that also take part in general police work. We also have Springer Spaniels, Labradors and German Shorthaired Pointers.

Our more specialist dogs work with the Firearms Support Group, are used for searching and detecting explosives or to detect drugs and locate firearms. One of the dogs can identify traces of currency and our passive drugs dog is able to find drugs being carried on a person. We also have two victim recovery and crime scene investigation dogs.

We accept suitable dogs from members of the public, dog breeders and dealers. We are currently developing a puppy-breeding scheme with the help of a host of volunteers and other forces. West Midlands Police have very kindly sent SYP one of their bitches after putting her “into pup” for us.

The volunteers, who include police officers, staff and members of the public are playing a fundamental role in getting this scheme up and running, and will also be looking after the dogs in the new “puppy-walking scheme” set up to assist the breeding scheme.

The new pups will need looking after until they’re ready to be trained by police dog handlers and this is where the puppy walking scheme and its volunteers come in. Volunteers are already looking after three puppies kindly donated by other forces.

The kennels at the training school on Niagara Road were originally designed in 1968 to accommodate dog breeding but were never used in this way- until now.

Over a four-week period, prospective police dogs are assessed to see if they have the right nature for police work. If they are unsuitable they are returned to their owners.

When the dogs reach the age of seven or eight, depending on their state of health, they retire and then live out their lives as the handler’s family pet. No South Yorkshire dogs are re-homed on retirement or put down, other than on medical advice.

SYP are still looking for volunteers to act as puppy walkers, acting as families for the dogs from the age of seven weeks until they are at least six months old.  You don’t have to be an experienced dog handler, just like dogs and have a basic understanding of their behaviour.  And SYP will provide all equipment, food and veterinary care.  For more information on how to get involved or you wish to donate a dog for police work please contact the SYP Dog Training Centre on 0114 296 4941.