The Dog Section consists of one Sergeant and five Constables who are centrally based in Inverness and form part of Operational Support.  Each officer handles a General Purpose Dog (German Shepherd) and a Specialist Drugs or Explosives Search Dog (Springer Spaniels/Labradors).  All the dogs live with the handlers and their families.

The role of the Police Dog is:

• searching/locating missing persons (including mountain rescue)
• tracking/searching for criminals from crime scenes

• Searching for/locating evidence at crime scenes
• High profile pro-active mobile and foot patrols
• Crowd management at public events
• Drug searches
• Explosives searches
• Supporting community events

TRAINING - Police officers who wish to become dog handlers are carefully selected through an assessment centre, before spending 12 weeks completing a rigorous training course which covers legislation, veterinary practices, dog psychology etc.

 Dogs can come to the Force from 2 sources:

• Through the general public - donations/purchase
• Specialist Puppy Programmes

If you have a dog which you think would be suitable to become a Police Dog, please contact one of our handlers via the Force Operations Centre on: 08456 033388.

If you would like the Police Dogs to attend at your school or at a community event, please apply in writing to:

The Officer in Charge

Police Dog Section

Northern Constabulary

Inverness Area Command

Burnett Road

Inverness

IV1 1RL

It is important to remember that operational duties take priority and last minute cancellations may occur on occasion.