Police dog and recruits skilled up for local beat

Sergeant Phil Kahotea.

Two police recruits and a narcotic sniffer dog are graduating from their respective courses and will soon be on the beat tracking criminals in Northland.

At yesterday's celebrations nine dog handlers, and six dogs, graduated from the New Zealand Police Dog Training Centre at Trentham after weeks of intensive training.

Police narcotics detector dog Orla made the grade with Whangarei-based handler Sergeant Phil Kahotea, who has 25 years' experience in the dog section. He will now have two canine police crime fighters as his other dog is trained for front line duties.

Of the 78 new police officers two will be joining the thin blue line in Northland.

One of the graduates Constable Jacob Manaton, who will be posted to Whangarei, collected a Section Achievement Award which recognised an individual from each section who, in the collective view of the members of the section and the wing instructors, made the greatest contribution to the overall success of the team.

Constable Andrew Hales will also be stationed in Northland.

The graduating constables have come from all over the country, with a broad range of backgrounds and life achievements. Some of their former occupations include nursing, commercial diving, specialised welding, and plumbing and gasfitting.

Many have tertiary qualifications in fields as varied as animal behaviour, cultural anthropology, chemistry, fitness, professional cookery, and computer applications, to name a few.