Just one shift: Dog Squad Agitator
Constable Brown dressed in the Agitator’s padded suit with PD Bally
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to join the Queensland Police Service, or perhaps more specifically the Dog Squad?
Well to give you an idea as to what it takes, here is a sneak peak of one Constables dedication to join our local Dog Squad.
When Constable Brown joined the QPS four years ago, he wanted to serve the community and ultimately join the Dog Squad.
Each week Constable Brown heads off to his shift as a uniformed first responder, attending to a variety of policing duties such as domestics, disturbances, traffic crashes, assaults, robberies and other property offences.
Const Brown padded up
At the end of his shift, instead of heading home to wind down, he volunteers to dress up in a padded protective suit for his role as a Dog Squad Agitator.
In just one shift as an Police Dog Agitator, he runs, hides, resists and is taken down by one or more of our Police Dogs during their regular training sessions.
Constable Brown explains why he’s volunteered for the past two years in this role.
“Ultimately I want to become a dog squad handler and by volunteering my own time at training sessions, I’m gaining valuable experience,” Constable Brown said.
“The dog squad plays a crucial role in the community that people aren’t aware of, such as locating missing people and taking down armed offenders.
“The bond between a police dog and handler is unique. It’s great to see how well Axel, Bally, Thor and Ziggy continue to improve their skills each time we do track, obedience and bite work work.
“Our police dogs are very well trained, but I definitely wouldn’t recommend running from one of them.
“After wearing the protective suit and being on the other end of a bite, I can vouch that you still feel the bite and the pressure through the suit, even though it’s padded.”
Agitator preparing for a hit
Source: Cairns Crime Alert
