SINGAPORE: Five auxiliary police K-9 sniffer dogs are ready to take on their first assignment this month after being certified, security services provider Certis said in a news release on Wednesday (Oct 16).
The Certis CISCO Auxiliary Police K-9 Unit (Certis K-9) has been officially certified by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) to be mission-ready for deployment, the security firm said.
The dogs – named Bonzo, Naomi, Peppe, Aspa and Turbo – will be deployed to a large-scale live entertainment event where they will “conduct security sweep operations”, Certis said.
There are also plans to deploy them to other customers in the aviation, entertainment and hospitality sectors, it added.
READ: Certis forms Singapore’s first auxiliary police K-9 unit
The dogs, ranging from one to two years old, are from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and are either English springer spaniels or labrador retrievers.
Bonzo paid a visit to Mediacorp on Oct 16, 2019. (Photo: Diane Leow)
“The Certis K-9 dogs have achieved the same stringent standards demanded of SPF’s own K-9 unit.
“By using their keen sense of smell to detect a wide range of substances including contraband and explosives, Certis K-9 will complement and augment security operations by pre-empting, detecting and deterring threats at deployment sites with high visitor volume like seaports, transport hubs and major events,” read the press release.
The dogs will also allow for more effective security sweeps.
“In tandem with their Certis K-9 colleagues, auxiliary police officers can now carry out security sweeps faster and with greater accuracy compared to manual and even machine checks,” said ASP (APF) Matthew Ng, commanding officer, Certis CISCO Auxiliary Police Force, Enforcement and Events Division.
One-year-old Bonzo and his handler CPL (APF) Lee Si Xian. (Photo: Zoey Low)
Mr Ng had previously said that the dogs can be trained to sniff out explosives and narcotics with more than 90 per cent accuracy, far exceeding the accuracy rate of machines which stands at 60 to 70 per cent.
He added thorough car checks, for example, can be completed in five to 10 minutes, much faster than the estimated 20 to 30 minutes by two officers.
