Thread: training narc dogs for security

Steve Austin acts as a trainer and adviser to the NSW Department of Corrective Services and NSW Department of Juvenile Justice Drug Detector Dog Units. But as Mark said no individual in Australia has access to real substances for detection work, permits apply to government departments only.

Could anyone shed some lights on Canada?

Thanks for the help mate.

Will do

In regard to this topic, I went to America about 10 years ago and completed a training course in Narcotic and Explosive Detection after 911. I came back with a certificate stating such accredited by various international detection associations of which were also based from the USA. In Australia I hold an explosives uses permit as by Trade I am an explosive technician and have also worked in the mines as a shot firer so I was able to train explosive dogs on both pseudo and real odours. In regard to narcotic dogs, even with solid networking structures with handlers and trainers within government agencies, I could not get hold of real odours legally therefore could only use pseudo.
I really did not get work in Australia handling these dogs as a civilian as liability was too high for both Drug and Explosive.
Explosive Example:
As a civilian handler what if you dog indicated on explosives at an event of hotel. The handler can not touch anything due to detonation. The police must be called in; they will evacuate the entire area and close the venue for business. The bomb squad would be called in and the media etc. Would you like to be a civilian handler and this be a false indication. Questions would be asked about both dog and handlers training, certification and accreditation.
Narcotic Example:
As a civilian handler you are doing a drug searches as a venue. You dog indicates on a person –what do you do? You can’t search this person, you can’t detain this person. All you could really do is refuse entry to the venue and call the police. What if it is a false indication again and this innocent person just happens to be a lawyer or off duty police officer…Your dog will only be trained on pseudo so this as a great possibility.

With current laws in Australia as Mark explained, unfortunately civilian narcotic or explosive detector dog handling in Australia is a highly liable area. Customs, state police, federal police and military have the resources and cover on this industry.

Totally agree with Jamie

Many security companes now advertise drug and explosive detection services. I for one would not become involved until the laws in Australia change to allwo civilian to train with real odour, and authorise and accredit civilian dogs and handlers HERE.. You get it wrong, then enjoy a lengthy court case fighting for your existence.

These companies that are operating in Aus, I feel have just been lucky that nothing major has gone wrong. But it is only a matter of time. Training dogs on psuedo only, is only asking for trouble.

In the RAAF, we started training our drug dogs on pseudo first, then transfered across to the real stuff.. ALL the dogs became confused and missed real odours the first few training sessions, so we had to go back to foundation training on the "new" real odours. Civilian companies cannot legally use real scent, so if you use these dogs and end up in a court of law for illegal searching or need to prove to a court of law that your dogs are at least 98% accurate, you will never convince the courts. And if the courts order your dog be tested on real odour by a government department such as Customs.. I guarantee at least 75% of them would fail the test.

In regards to explosives dogs.. Yes again agree with Jamie. This in my opnion should be left totally to government departments. Damn get this wrong and close down an entire venue or building due to a false indication.. you'll be all over the papers and made out to be a fool, and not forgetting the legal battle ahead of you, and being sued.

In my opinion, I agree with a lot of Jamie and Mark's response with regards to the civil liability of civilian handlers, especially with explosives detection work. I know there are plenty of private businesses that advertise it here in the States, though I don't really know how good the market is for it. Civilian trainers though, is another story. I think it is interesting there is no licenses available to civilian contractors to obtain real odors in Australia. Agencies here handle the initial training of their dogs in different ways. Some get their dogs as completely "green" dogs and train them in house. Some even have puppy programs. Others purchase completely finished dogs and go to a handler school before they certify the team. Our agency is probably somewhere in the middle. We go to a civilian contractor who provides dogs that are imported and have been imprinted on odor and have been tested to make sure they possess the proper drives and aptitude to do the job. Then, our handlers go through a long course (usually between 6 to 8 weeks) to train the dog how to do control work, conduct detection work in buildings, vehicles, open areas, etc., clear buildings, vehicle extractions, etc. and then the team certifies together before being cleared for the streets. Obviously, cost and time are the biggest factors when a department decides the route to take. Either way though, with as much as dogs are used here in the States, I would find it very hard to meet the dog demand if we didn't have civilian trainers to assist with the need. Who/How are the detection dogs trained in Australia? Jamie, just wondering but which organization did you cert through in the States?