The number of dogs used by the Garda Siochana in Dublin is to be doubled by the end of the year due to the success of a pilot project. It has led to a drop in crime levels by as much as one-third in some areas, the Garda says.
There will also be extra dogs deployed for regional use in Cork, Limerick, Galway, Wexford and Athlone.
The decision to use more dogs in Garda work comes after a three-month pilot programme which saw inner-city crime in Dublin drop by 33 per cent where dogs were used on foot patrols, the Garda says.
"A person who sees a policeman with a dog takes twice as much notice. People feel safer seeing dogs on foot patrol," said Sgt Seamus McCudden, head of the Special Services Dogs Unit at Kilmainham. Three months of intensive patrol with German shepherd dogs in a number of inner-city streets in Dublin saw perpetrators think twice before breaking into cars and snatching handbags.
It takes 14 weeks to train a dog for police work and up to five dogs will be taken in for training at any one time, beginning in April. The new dogs, mainly German shepherds, will be moving into different areas of the city and in the regions in what is known as high-visibility policing.
At present there are 22 dogs in the special services unit. These include labrador and spaniel sniffer dogs for drugs use, explosives work and tracking. There are an additional six dogs in use by Customs officers at airports and ports. But by the end of this year at least 12 extra German shepherd dogs will be fully trained for street work and for crowd occasions.
There are plans too to set up a special breeding programme for dogs used in police work. At present the Garda takes dogs - often problem dogs - from among the general public. "People contact the Garda unit about problem dogs and we look at their potential for police work," Sgt McCudden said.
The ideal police dog is highly motivated, disciplined and "able to control his aggression". He responds strongly to praise, Sgt McCudden says. The expansion in the dogs unit comes as the number of horses in the mounted unit is also expected to increase.