Anyone running from the long arm of the law at night, watch out — Rico will see you long before you will see him.
Invercargill Police Senior Constable Tom Evans was very proud of Rico because tracking was his pitch-black German Shepherd’s greatest strength.
Constable Evans has had Rico at his side since the dog was only 8 weeks old and the pair have formed a strong bond over the past two years.
"It’s all games and fun at the start. They don't realise that they’re training, but they are. So you create that bond over time through that training."
The pair trained for six months at the Trentham dog training centre and are starting their working career together in Invercargill.
"You spend so much time with that dog while you’re training, both informally for the first year and then formally for the second year, you create a pretty good bond with him."
Spending 24/7 together was all part of building the connection needed to work effectively and safely in the field under pressure.
Const Evans is a seasoned police team member of 14 years - after working the front line and as a CIB detective, he jumped at the chance to work at his dream job as a dog handler.
"It’s every little kid’s dream to work your own dog and catch baddies."
He had no qualms about moving south from Hamilton with his family.
The change in role meant more time spent working at night alone rather than working with a big team.
"The only thing to talk to is your dog...you spend a lot of time with your dog ... because you do an eight-hour shift with your dog, then you come home and your dog's still with you. You're looking after and running it and exercising it, feeding it. So you spend a lot more time with yourself than you do with your family."
While Rico was a fearless front-line team member whose size could be intimidating, he was also very much a member of Const Evans’ family.
"My [children] have this funny thing, they don’t quite get that I am a dog handler, they think that I am a policeman who takes their pet dog to work every day.
"So he’ll do things like run around with my [children] and chase a ball and lie on his back to get his is tummy rubbed - which I think to some people, they can’t comprehend that this big police dog can act like that."
Invercargill area manager of prevention and armed offenders squad (AOS) commander Andrew Karsten said having dogs on the front line team was a real tactical asset and a great "tool to have in the toolbox much like search and rescues".
Handlers did not like putting their dogs into high-risk situations but understood their role and the reassurance they provided to the public and police team.
Invercargill had four dog handlers, but only two were operational, while two more were in training.
Most dogs were operational by 2 years old but their retirement age depended on the individual dog and if they were a general task dog or AOS trained.
Const Evans being a qualified AOS officer, meant Rico could be qualified for AOS development which he planned to assess in the next couple of years. There were only about 25 dogs which were nationally AOS qualified.
- By Toni McDonald
