War Dogs and Police Work
| Author | H. Jones |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X5002300110 |
| Date | 01 January 1950 |
| Published date | 01 January 1950 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
WAR
DOGS
AND
POLICE
WORK
55
and one of the main objects of the organisation is to secure better
liaison in criminal matters between world police forces.
In
England
all
enquiries desired through
the
Commission are handled by the Assistant
Commissioner's Office, Criminal Investigation Department, New
Scotland Yard.
Having briefly reviewed the ramifications of jurisdiction over crime
committed outside England and perhaps found it a wider subject than
originally thought, the reader might recollect
that
John Arbuthnot
wrote in
1700
"Law is a bottomless
pit";
surely still an appropriate
aphorism.
War
Dogs and Police Work
By
DETECTIVE-SERGEANT
H.
JONES
Leicestershire
Constabulary
ACHAN CE visit to a gymkhana last summer at which a
number
of
war dogs gave an exhibition suggested to me
that
these dogs could
be of assistance in the detection of crime, and I decided to give
them
a
trial when the
next'
suitable'
crime occurred.
This
was made possible because the dogs are trained locally and
the relations between the officer in charge of the Depot and
the
Police
are all that can be desired.
During December 1948 a report was received to the effect
that
a
number
of fowls (the property of the second in command at the Camp)
had
been stolen during the night from the back garden of his house
about
300
yards away from the Camp.
The
usual enquiries were made
and it was apparent that
the
fowls had been killed before being taken
away. A short distance from
the
fowl
hut
a sack bag, in which were
feathers, was found, and it appeared obvious that the fowls
had
been
carried away from the
hut
in this bag.
This
seemed to be an ideal case
in which to
tryout
the dogs.
A '
Tracker'
class dog was sent for, and given the bag to smell.
Without hesitation,
the
animal directed the Police to the rear of the
officers' quarters in the Camp, where it refused to pass the window of one
of the rooms.
(It
must be admitted that during this track the dog did
not have to pass over any macadamed road.) -Officers standing by
watched with some consternation, which was only relieved when the
fowls' entrails were traced to
the
batmen's section.
Two
of the batmen admitted the theft and agreed
that
they had
taken the stolen fowls through
the
barrack-room window pointed out
by the dog.
The
second occasion on which one of these dogs was of assistance
to the Police was when a soldier was interviewed during the night and
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