VPD Dog Squad Competition

As previously mentioned, my amazing father is a Vancouver Police Officer. The past seven years of his career he has been a member of VPD's Dog Squad with his brilliant canine partner Ace.

Constable Reg Forster and PD Ace

Since November, when Ace retired, my Dad was been back working patrol; with full intention of re-applying to return to the dog squad in 2012. The specialty departments of the VPD require Officers to try-out in order to be admitted to the unit. This is to ensure that prospective officers have the experience, and physical and mental qualities necessary for the Squad they are applying to.

The 2012 Dog Squad Competition launched on February 9th, starting with the Dog Handler's Physical Ability Test.
This test is essentially is a timed obstacle course that each handler must completed in under 9 minutes and 30 seconds. (Test Map shown below).

My Dad finished the course in 8 minutes and 45 seconds, putting him in the middle of the group of men competing. Not revealing his actual age, he is the 'senoir' member of the group, and incapacitated back and all he performed remarkably well (not that we had any doubts).

Every competitor did an excellent job, completing the course in under 9 minutes, and advancing them all on to stage two of four in the competition.

The next part of the competition is the Driving Test, which assesses competitors on their basic driving skills as well as evaluating them in a driving 'scenario' that will be presented on the day of the test. If they pass the driving test, they advance onto stage three - the Practical Test.

The Practical  Test evaluates competitors on their practical policing skills relative to the duties of a Dog Handler.

If they pass phases 1-3 they then qualify to be selected to proceed to the interview stage; where they will undergo an interview in front of a panel of five Officers.

When the competition has finished, the first week of March, the judging panel will then select the next Officer(s) who will become a member(s) of the Dog Squad.

Among the prospective canine competitors are Scout, Hunter's brother, and Wrex, the puppy currently under my family's care. The dogs also have to go through rigorous testing before they are deemed to be appropriate candidates for the force; we will discuss this more when the canine training and testing commences!

February 16th will be the date of the Driving Phase of the competition - stay tuned for Dad's results!

Until next time...