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The Dog Support Unit (DSU) is a
Metropolitan Police Service.
In 2014, figures released under the
More than five people a week are bitten by police dogs, figures show
''The Guardian'' (October 29, 2014). The Met paid £243,363 to compensation to dog-bite victims over that three-year period, and £95,000 made in the preceding three-year period. In 2004, a police dog died at the Met's training school for police dogs in Keston, south east London, and a police constable was reprimanded.Alexandra Topping and agencies
Handler found injured after police dogs die in car
''The Guardian'' (June 28, 2011).Dog ban for ex Metropolitan Police handler after deaths
BBC News (October 12, 2011). In June 2011 the same dog-handler officer, who had been promoted to sergeant, locked two police dogs in his car for hours on one of the hottest days of the year, and the dogs died from heat exhaustion. The officer resigned from the police force and admitted in Westminster Magistrates' Court to causing unnecessary suffering; the court ordered him to pay £3,240 in court costs, and banned him from owning dogs for three years.
Met Operations
Met Operations, also known as Met Ops, is one of the four business groups which forms the Metropolitan Police Service and is responsible for providing operational support services.. It was created during the 2018-19 restructuring of the service, am ...
branch of London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
's Metropolitan Police
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
, providing trained police dogs and police officer
A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...
handlers.Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.19.002021: Information about MPS dogs and horsesMetropolitan Police Service.
Unit budget, composition, and duties
As of mid-2019, the Met reported a total of 226 dogs in operational police service, classified as 116 general purpose dogs, 53 firearms, cash, and drug search dogs, 41 explosives search dogs, 14 forensic evidence search dogs, and two digital media search dogs. The Met reported 186 officers and 20 police staff working full-time in the unit. Over the period 2009 to 2018, the dog unit budget ranged from approximately £13.2 million to approximately £15.6 million. "General purpose" dogs areGerman shepherds
The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899.
It was originally bred as a herding dog, for he ...
and Malinois (Belgian shepherds); search dogs included Springer Spaniels, Cocker Spaniels, and Labrador Retrievers.
Police dogs responded to the 2011 London riots
The 2011 England riots, more widely known as the London riots, were a series of riots between 6 and 11 August 2011. Thousands of people rioted in cities and towns across England, which saw looting, arson, as well as mass deployment of police ...
, and at least one was wounded.
Alongside other Metropolitan Police units, the Dog Support Unit participated in a counter-terrorism training exercise on the River Thames in 2017. In 2018, it was reported that the Met had spent more than £1 million on a pilot project to train police dogs in counter-terrorism.
Incidents
In 2014, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request:
* Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian act
* ...
showed that in the preceding three years, 827 people were bitten by Metropolitan Police dogs, and that "While the majority were suspects being pursued by the force, 53 were members of the public or police officers. It is not known how many of the suspects were found guilty of crimes or cleared."Diane TaylorMore than five people a week are bitten by police dogs, figures show
''The Guardian'' (October 29, 2014). The Met paid £243,363 to compensation to dog-bite victims over that three-year period, and £95,000 made in the preceding three-year period. In 2004, a police dog died at the Met's training school for police dogs in Keston, south east London, and a police constable was reprimanded.Alexandra Topping and agencies
Handler found injured after police dogs die in car
''The Guardian'' (June 28, 2011).Dog ban for ex Metropolitan Police handler after deaths
BBC News (October 12, 2011). In June 2011 the same dog-handler officer, who had been promoted to sergeant, locked two police dogs in his car for hours on one of the hottest days of the year, and the dogs died from heat exhaustion. The officer resigned from the police force and admitted in Westminster Magistrates' Court to causing unnecessary suffering; the court ordered him to pay £3,240 in court costs, and banned him from owning dogs for three years.
References
{{Metropolitan Police Dog Support Unit Police dogs People working with dogs