Tongan Detector Dog Handler graduates from NZ Police training [1]
Tuesday, June 18, 2019 - 17:04. Updated on Wednesday, June 19, 2019 - 11:14.
Tongan police officer Constable Samuel Pekipaki has graduated from the Pacific Detector Dog Programme in New Zealand.
Constable Pekipeki is a first time dog handler who joined Tonga Police in 2012. He will return to take over a detector dog already in Tonga.
Detector dogs work in New Zealand and the Pacific on the hunt for narcotics, dodgy cash or firearms and explosives. The dogs and their handlers graduated from the New Zealand Police Dog Training Centre on June 13.
Inspector Todd Southall, National Coordinator: Police Dogs, said that passing the qualification course is a significant achievement for handlers, no matter if it’s with their first dog or with their tenth.
“Highly trained dogs and handlers have a vital job for us in drugs or firearms and explosives detection work,” he says.
The graduation was an important part of the Pacific Detector Dog Programme building capability in the breeding of police dogs and the training of dog handlers in Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and Cook Islands jurisdictions. The programme is supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and draws on the expertise of New Zealand Police and New Zealand Customs Service staff.
Constable Neumi Waqanokonoko and Kaleb (16 months) from Fiji Police also graduated. He will return to Fiji with his dog Kaleb, a New Zealand bred police dog.
Constable Pekipaki trained with Kode, but will take over the training and handling of a dog that is already in Tonga.