Warwickshire Police

A General purpose dog can perform many tasks. It can track an individual across varying terrain, following a mixture of ground disturbance and human scent. The dog will also indicate items dropped or concealed by an offender, which may be of evidential value.

The dogs training requires it to be proficient in following a track up to two hours old.

The G.P.D is able to search for persons in buildings or open places. A suspect can be located by the dog whether they are hidden or not. The dog will generally work off the lead.

Searching for property/evidence can be conducted on or off the lead. The Police Dog will identify articles recently discarded and or bearing human scent. In ideal conditions property can be recovered many hours later.

P.D's can also detain fleeing suspects. A dog is only deployed in such circumstance if it is necessary to prevent escape of a suspect and to preserve evidence. Deployment of a dog in such a manner is always with careful thought and consideration to the offence committed.

General purpose dogs are mainly german shepards, these are used widely in locating missing persons amongst their other skills.