Windhoek
Not only are they a nightmare to drug lords and drug users because of their ability to sniff out drugs but they can also detect hidden explosives.
Police dogs known as the K-9s are praised for their uncanny ability to detect hidden explosives and firearms all in the name of fighting crime.
K-9s, derived from canines, are no ordinary dogs because they can cost up to N$75 000 each.
The dogs are used at road entry points such as roadblocks. But, they are also used in drug-raids, at murder scenes as well as at events where high-profile dignitaries are to officiate.
In Walvis Bay there are five sniffer dogs, two of these are for narcotics (drugs) and three for explosives. Kunene Region has two narcotic dogs while Khomas has eight of these dogs trained to sniff-out narcotics and seven for explosives.
Although, the country does not have many of these four-legged police officers, their handlers, who are happy with their tactful working skills, in an interview with New Era this week compared their relationship with these four-legged cops to that of a happily married couple.
“I trust her whole-heartedly. She will not lie,” Warrant Officer Carmelita Sylvester of the Nampol K-9 Unit says of the working relationship she has cultivated with her dog ‘Christelle’. Christelle was born in 2009 and is a K-9 police officer responsible for detecting narcotics (drugs). This simply means Christelle is used during police operations to sniff out and identify drugs.
“You have to trust your dog,” continues Sylvester, who speaks with so much compassion of her love – ‘Christelle’ and their flawless working relationship. When the going gets tough, Sylvester and her colleague, Warrant Officer Nakare Gariseb find solace and courage in their dogs.
Gariseb shares that even if he has problems at home it does not affect his job because his dog, ‘Chucky’, gives him the much-needed comfort to keep going.
“Sometimes if a woman makes you angry for one reason or another and you come angry at the unit, the anger disappears once you come in contact with the dog because he comforts you. I mean, he wants to play with you,” Gariseb further stated.
“Sometimes if you are angry with everyone the only place you find comfort in is your dog.”
The dogs can sense when their handlers have negative attitudes or when they are not well, said the handlers about their canine workmates.
Hence, they maintain a positive attitude. At other times, however, they are free and honest enough to just be open with the dogs and let out all their frustrations, Gariseb further explained.
“There are really things which can keep you from getting into trouble by going to the dogs (finding comfort). I (sometimes) go to the dog and speak my heart out,” Gariseb confessed.
Sylvester also compares the dog-handler relationship to that of people who seek for comfort in religion. “It’s like a religion,” she adds.
Sylvester’s work experience has taught her that a dog has enduring patience. “Even if you go on leave for one month and come back it won’t scold you. It will be happy to see you,” Sylvester says, before daringly comparing a dog-handler relationship to that of a happily-married couple.
“You can put a dog in the boot of a car and you put your husband there. If you open the boot your husband might shoot you but your dog will be so happy to see you. He will not ask you ‘why did you leave me here’. A dog has got love, a dog has got love beyond comparison. A dog showed me love beyond comparison,” stresses Sylvester.
Not, only are these dogs loving partners to their handlers but they diligently obey their masters’ commands. “Soek (search), soek mooi (search well),” are just some of the orders the K-9s are given during operations, which are almost always successful. In return, they are rewarded with love, compassion and toys.
But how long does it take to train K-9s? “Training of a dog starts while it is a puppy. From its birth and it takes until his death because each and every day you encounter obstacles and you retrain him on those obstacles,” says Gariseb.
Narcotic sniffer dogs are trained for three months while explosive sniffer dogs are trained for six months. But, Gariseb emphasises that training a dog does not stop if the law enforcement officials are to use them successfully and considering the fact drug lords and mules use new tricks.
Part of the training includes socialising the dogs. This simply means exposing them to all kinds of circumstances so that they are not distracted during operations, the duo explained.
Socialised dogs can, among others, stand next to a stranger without biting them, they note.
There are things that can hinder the dogs when they have to work. So, there are mechanisms in place to train the dogs to be focused.
In addition, he says, “When you have socialised the dog you would know whether to put them for drugs or explosives. If you socialise your dog then you can do anything you want with your dog.” Sylvester adds: “Socialisation of the dog is of outmost importance.”
But, criminals are equally smart and thus have counteractions to try and defeat the law enforcement agencies and Gariseb does not deny that fact. “Criminals also know that a dog can work from morning up to 11h00 or 12h00 then you have to take a break for one or two hours. If the criminal knows when you are breaking that is when they can do their things,” noted Gariseb.
Also, if the criminals know that law enforcement officials and dogs are patrolling their areas of operation they will not keep the drugs in that vicinity, Gariseb further explained.
“They will take them out from there and move them to another place. You will go there and the dog will stop here and there because it shows you that things where there and you will look at those spots but will not get anything,” he elucidated.
This can be solved with additional manpower and dogs, Gariseb notes. “And we are working towards that. We are working towards getting enough manpower and dogs to cover the whole of Namibia,” added Sylvester.
The four-legged police officers greatly complement the work of the human law enforcement officers, says Sylvester.
The force has had successful operations thanks to the K-9 law enforcement officials.
“It can take up to one hour for us to search a house. But because a dog has got 220 million scent receptor cells and a human being only has 5 million they are able to get what we are looking for in record time,” notes Sylvester.
“A dog can see where a human eye cannot see. Where a human being fails, the dog shows and the human focuses there. They are so effective that it is impossible to fail,” Gariseb also comments.
Previously, the Namibian Police Force had patrol dogs but they have been phased out, shares Sylvester. The breeds recruited in the K-9s include German Shepherds, Labradors and Belgium shepherds, concludes Sylvester.