The BC RCMP Lower Mainland District and Integrated Teams have released some adorable photos of their most recent police service dog graduating class.
The 2022 graduating class is one of the largest ever in the Lower Mainland, with seven teams graduating from the Alberta school.
The teams trained at the Police Dog Service Training Centre (PDSTC) in Innisfail, Alberta for several months before they took their final exams. After that, they were assigned to work in several communities throughout the Lower Mainland.
The teams master tracking, searching, obedience and apprehension each year at the facility, with Police Service Dogs (PSD) and their handlers ready to hit the streets when they complete the program.
"Having seven Police Service Dog teams arrive in the Lower Mainland is one of the most significant deployments in recent years," said Staff Sgt. Derek King. "These teams will improve our ability to respond to calls requiring a police dog and greatly increase the level of service provided to the public.
The teams are part of the Lower Mainland Integrated Police Dog Service (IPDS) with partnerships across all RCMP detachments and municipal departments in New Westminster, Delta, West Vancouver, Port Moody and Abbotsford.
In an average year, the IPDS teams respond to over 10,000 calls including finding missing people, helping persons in crisis, searching for evidence, as well as locating and apprehending criminal suspects.
The new Police Dog Service teams are listed below and will be drafted to:
- Constable Britteny George, Ridge Meadows RCMP, with PSD Porter.
- Constable Sascha Falschebner, Surrey RCMP, with PSD Nugget.
- Constable Jordan Braid, Chilliwack RCMP, with PSD Neon.
- Constable Sebastien Fortin, Coquitlam RCMP, with PSD Norad.
- Constable Chris Colgan, West Vancouver Police, with PSD Nolan.
- Constable Lorne Elgar, West Vancouver Police, with PSD Nuke.
- Constable David Gronmyr, Abbotsford Police, with PSD Nos.
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