Paws for success: Talented Northland police dog handler graduates with second canine, Stark

Senior constable Elyse Lewis with Stark - one of the new additions to the Northland police team. Photo / NZ Police

Prominent Northland police dog handler Elyse Lewis has graduated from the New Zealand Police Dog Training Centre with her second operational dog, 21-month-old Stark.

The senior constable joined the police in 2006 and the dog section in 2015 and has been working with her first operational dog, Mist, in an Armed Offenders Squad capacity.

Elyse Lewis and Stark (second from left) graduate from the New Zealand Police Dog Training Centre in Trentham, Wellington. Photo / NZ Police

Stark's in for a bright future with Lewis, who created history in 2019 by becoming the first female officer to win the national police patrol championships with Mist.

She also placed fourth in the 2018 Australasian Championships.

Stark and Lewis are one of 12 operational police dog detector teams who respond to tens of thousands of incidents each year to keep communities safe.