Queensland Corrective Services (QCS) has announced the graduation of three new dog handlers and General Purpose (GP) dogs from the QCS Academy.
Assistant Commissioner for the QCS, Ursula Roeder said the dogs, Justice, Yager and Jimmy, and their handlers, would play a crucial role in boosting officer safety in prisons.
“The QCS is committed to making our prisons as safe as possible for our officers, visitors and prisoners, and GP dogs and their handlers play a really important role in the dynamic security of our centres,” Assistant Commissioner Roeder said.
“In addition to supporting the overall security of our prisons, GP dogs really come into their own in emergency response situations, supporting our officers to defuse potentially dangerous situations,” she said.
Assistant Commissioner Roeder said the barking of a GP dog advancing on a unit had a remarkable calming effect on prisoners.
“Our frontline officers will tell you it is a most welcome sound when they are dealing with critical incidents,” she said.
Acting State GP trainer for the QCS, Morgan Chisholm said the new dog handlers were selected from the ranks of Custodial Correctional Officers and had worked hard to build their skills.
“The officers and their dogs completed a three-month training course covering obedience, agility, offender apprehension, tracking, intruder detection, property searches and operational deployment strategies,” Mr Chisholm said.
“The high standard of competency that all three handlers have achieved over the arduous course is a testament to their commitment.”
He said graduation was just the beginning for these new partnerships.
“Our dog handlers spend a great deal of their own time developing and nurturing their young working dogs so they can deploy within the correctional environment and support our frontline staff and the community on a daily basis,” Mr Chisholm said.
