Sergeant George Fortey in 1969
Residing peacefully away from the hustle and bustle of SWP Headquarters, the Dog Section in Bridgend is home to 74 operational dogs and their dedicated team of handlers. Listening to the cacophony of gruff barks reverberating around the school, it’s hard to believe that in 1960 just four dogs resided here.
On the 23rd August 1960, four German Shepherd pups arrived at the SWP kennels- oblivious to the legacy they would leave behind at the end of their working lives. Bruce, Bess, Carl and Cora (the latter two hailing from Edinburgh City Police) were just 4-months-old when they began their long and successful careers as the first SWP dogs.
From this young age, the new recruits underwent numerous training courses with their fledging handlers before becoming fully operational. From the evidence of cases reported during 1960, it seems that the dogs took to their duties with ease. Despite being just 6-months-old and only partially trained, Carl was responsible for the arrest of three men stealing Christmas Trees in Tonyrefail during December 1960. Similarly, Bess gave an indication to her handler which resulted in the arrest of a man in Maesteg on a charge of breaking and entering, whilst she was still under a year old.
As the early police dogs moved from strength to strength in their roles, so the Dog Section looked to refine and expand the skills the animals could bring to the police. 1969 saw the introduction of explosive search dogs to the Force. Sergeant Ian Roderick explains how this proved to be a major step in the history of dog training: “The explosive dogs were the first in the UK, and originated to tackle the rising number of attacks being carried out by the Free Wales Army. The Metropolitan Police were approached to train these dogs, but they claimed that it couldn’t be done. We took it upon ourselves to train them instead, and the results were astounding. There are now around 380 explosive dogs in the UK which have all derived from the pioneering work done by SWP.”
Yet the innovative success of the SWP Dog Training School doesn’t end here. Following the terrorist attacks in London and New York, major work was undertaken in the detection of liquid explosives. In 2007 SWP rolled out the training for this threat at a national level, and in the process secured the Forces’ reputation as one of the most respected and influential dog sections in the UK.
The hard work and dedication of the dog handlers and their animals continues to push the boundaries of crime detection: “We took responsibility for drugs dogs from the Force Drug Squad in 1991, and introduced firearms detection soon after,” said Ian. “Currency detection was then developed in 2002, and in 2008 we successfully trained a dog in passport detection for the Immigration Service”.
The dog has become an irreplaceable and vital asset to the policing team, and it seems that our loyal companions look set to continue this success well into the future of South Wales Police: “Our most recent work involves the training of dogs to detect mobile phones and SIM cards,” states Ian.
It’s difficult to believe the extraordinary accomplishments of the Dog School when considering its humble origins half a century ago. The achievements of the SWP Dog Section are certainly something to bark about- now more than ever before.