Some of the Australian Federal Police’s (AFP) newest recruits were in Parliament last week. No, they weren’t men and women dressed in blue, they were small with furry coats and wet noses. The AFPs newest recruits are puppies who make up part of the canine program. These are 79 highly trained dogs who work at the forefront of keeping our borders safe by detecting illicit drugs, illegal cash or explosives and preventing them from entering the country. Training an AFP dog takes at least three months of intensive work. They work for around six years before retiring with their handler or going to a volunteer family.
You might not ever see them, but these dogs are located at every major airport in Australian. They patrol the terminals, sniff luggage, aircrafts, vehicles and freight. A human nose only has enough cells to cover a postage stamp, but dogs have so many cells in their noses, that if they were spread out, they would cover their entire bodies.
In 2019 a ‘Tech Dog’ pilot program started, and recently received a $5.7 million boost from the Government. Dogs taking part in this program are trained to sniff out USB sticks or SIM cards which might contain hundreds of thousands of child exploitation images or documents that help with evidence for a police investigation.
Tech Dogs – all currently Labradors – are at the top tier of detection dogs. They are extremely driven and have high levels of intelligence and endurance. The current team of Tech Dogs has already located more than 120 devices to support investigations ranging from child protection to terrorism.
Not just cute, these highly trained professionals are vitally important in keeping us safe and secure!
