Dogs play bigger role in maintaining security

More than 4,000 police dogs will be deployed to the frontlines nationwide to fight violent and terrorist activities, a senior official from the Ministry of Public Security has said.

Amid an upgrading of national public security and counterterrorism operations, the number of police dogs is far from enough, said Cong Min, director of the police dog technical training department of the ministry's criminal investigation bureau.

Currently, 15,000 police dogs, including seven breeds such as the German shepherd, Labrador and springer spaniel, most of which were imported from Europe, have been working with police officers to combat criminal activities including terrorism.

"The latest 4,000 elite police dogs are receiving special training in four national training bases: Kunming, Nanchang, Nanjing and Shenyang. After receiving a minimum of two months' training, they will accompany police officers to fight terrorism," he said.

Police officers will attend the training with their canine partners to build rapport. After passing assessment, the dogs will be certified and deployed on missions.

The special training mainly includes searching for drugs and explosives, hunting and arresting suspects, conducting patrols, identifying suspicious odors, sniffing out criminal evidence and taking part in rescue missions, Cong said.

"The trained police dogs, with their keen sense of smell and other capabilities, form part of a powerful arsenal to fight crime. They play an essential role in combating terrorist attacks," said Du Yichao, a senior official from the ministry's criminal investigation bureau.

Faced with an increasing number of terrorism-related incidents nationwide, the ministry in April initiated a yearlong crackdown on violent and terrorist attacks, especially in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The police dogs have been deployed to help their officer partners conduct armed patrols on the streets, where they can sniff out signs of criminal activity and hidden suspects to help maintain public security, Cong said.

Police dogs with special training will also work with officers to handle emergencies like violent and terrorist attacks.

"The canines can assist police to control terrorist suspects. They can also help detect weapons such as knives and explosive devices," he said.

Some terrorist suspects in Xinjiang often carry choppers or man-made explosive devices to launch attacks, and police dogs can help find these to eliminate safety risks, he said.

The ministry will also reward some police dogs that have made significant contributions to fighting terror, Du said.

The dogs will be given certificates and have their achievements put on record.

When the canines become old or get injured, they will still be cared for and used to help training research, he said.

Other retired dogs will spend their remaining years in the local training center, or their guardians can adopt them. They can also be adopted by the China Police Dog Management Association, he said.

Since 2007, China has been offering regular police dog training to countries and regions including Laos, Pakistan, Hong Kong and Macao, according to the ministry.

zhangyan1@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 08/15/2014 page31)