POLICE forces across the region will today mark the launch of a merged dog section, boosting the power of our canine crime fighters.

Although Cleveland Police and Durham Constabulary had already been sharing a dog unit, in October last year the Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables of the forces, along with North Yorkshire Police, decided on a three-way merger.

This gives all three forces access to a larger pool of police dogs on each shift, and greater access to specialist police dogs – for example passive drugs dogs, which are typically used in town and city centres to identify people carrying drugs.

The new service will also increase police dog coverage in rural areas.

The combined dog section is part of the Evolve Programme - a three-force initiative to look at how the police can improve services and save money by collaborating across organisational and geographical borders.

North Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Julia Mulligan said: “Police dogs are a really important of policing both urban and rural communities, and fundamentally, this merger gives us access to more dogs and will in turn mean a better service for the public.

“Not only is the service better, but North Yorkshire saves £172,000 a year by working better with our neighbouring forces, giving local tax payers better value for money.”

Dave Jones, Chief Constable for North Yorkshire Police said: “From today our police dogs will be trained in the same way, and will adopt the same operating tactics, across all three police service areas.

“That means we can deploy more dogs, and work more effectively across a wide geographical area. That is good news for the service and bad news for criminals.”

Cleveland PCC Barry Coppinger, said: “The launch of the joint dog section today is good news for the people of Cleveland, North Yorkshire and Durham and it means significant savings for the public.

“Police dogs and their handlers will remain in Cleveland but will be more widely available across all three force areas, creating a stronger and more resilient service for our communities.”

Chief Constable of Cleveland Police, Iain Spittal, added: “The collaboration of the Dog Support Unit means that we are able to strengthen our resources in these challenging times and provide a more resilient service to our communities.”