Lack of dog riders and special search dogs

- The dog is a tool that we use within the police so that we can get a greater clearance rate of crime. The dog can find things with its fantastic nose that we cannot see with the naked eye, says Mimmi Lindgren, who is a special search driver in the Eastern Police Region.

She works with the search dog Disco and has a field of drugs / weapons. She confirms that there are few search dogs in the region, in Östergötland there are only two, which means a lot of jobs for her and Disco.

- I have as much work as possible. There is something to do all the time, says Mimmi Lindgren.

In connection with the reorganization within the police came a national decision on the dog business in Sweden with the requirement that all regions should have a certain number of special search dogs, dogs that specialize in searching certain subjects. Within the Eastern Police Region there are eight purebred search dogs and some 40 patrol dogs.

- Above all, we have an increased need to have the expertise, where dogs can search for drugs and weapons, that competence can also be applied to our patrol dogs, so they become so-called combination dogs. We are now starting a dog training course with our patrol drivers to add weapons and drugs as an additional dress, ”says Mimmi Lindgren.

Dogs may be specialized in searching crime sites in firefighters, or searching for explosives, ammunition, semen, drugs, liquids, old or fresh blood, and DNA.

Are there any restrictions?

- The limitations that exist, they probably set our own imagination, on the other hand, we are limited to different special dressings - that you can not find any combinations that are supported nationally through our police service in Karlsborg.

Nowadays, dogs are becoming more specialized and the search methods have been refined.

- When I started as a dog handler, when you would look for evidence that someone released, then the dogs were carrying the objects. Then DNA technology was developed, so we got to teach the dogs passive marking, which means marking that the object is there, but not touching, says Mimmi Lindgren.