Fears of risk to public as South Yorkshire police confirms dog unit cuts

South Yorkshire Police confirmed yesterday that its dog support unit is to be reduced from 36 handlers to 25, with three sergeants and eight constables to be re-deployed elsewhere in the force or to retire from policing.

The force’s police and crime commissioner was forced to take to Twitter to deny suggestions circulating on the social networking site that dogs no longer used by the team would be put down.

A police spokesman said: “Suggestions on social media sites that some of the police dogs will be put down are utterly erroneous. The force would never destroy a healthy dog.

“Equally, despite what some commentators are alleging, the force has not asked officers to return their dogs.”

The force says the cuts, leaving one sergeant and 24 constables in place, will bring the unit’s size into line with neighbouring West Yorkshire, Humberside and North Yorkshire forces.

But Neil Bowles of the South Yorkshire Police Federation, representing rank and file officers, said: “Police dogs and their handlers are a vital part of the so-called police frontline.

“They are a team at work and home and become part of an officer’s family. They are always double-crewed and can fight crime, search for missing people and keep fighting groups apart.

“They are a tremendous support to all other frontline uniform officers. Other forces have cut the numbers, realised their mistake and now are trying to recruit and train handlers again. This another blow to the safety of our communities due to budget cuts.”

Tasks carried out by South Yorkshire Police’s dogs include searching for property discarded from the scene of a crime and providing a deterrent and calming influence at scenes of public disorder.

Four of the dog handlers leaving the force’s dog support unit are to retire and will not be replaced, while seven others will be redeployed into other frontline roles.

In some cases, officers will be invited to keep their dogs, while other dogs may be re-allocated to other police forces.

Author Mike Pannett, who helped set up the Don’t Ditch the Dogs campaign opposing cuts to police dog units, says the current total of 36 handlers is already two lower than it was just a few weeks ago. He said: “These cuts are a further example of the budgetary constraints being placed on police forces.

“However we cannot ignore the fact that less police dogs means less protection for the public, less dogs available to control public order situations, less dogs available to search for vulnerable missing people, search for drugs, stolen property, firearms, cash or runaway offenders.

“Further, there is currently no retired police dogs fund in place in South Yorkshire to help support handlers and their dogs at this time.

“It truly is a very difficult and heartbreaking time for everyone directly involved and our thoughts remain with the handlers, their families and of course the dogs themselves at this time.”

He said he had sympathy for the force, which is having to make millions of pounds a year in savings, but that police dogs provided an “invaluable” service. A police spokesman said a decision to reduce the size of the unit was taken in October, though the Yorkshire Post revealed two months earlier that proposals were being considered.

Chief constable David Crompton said at the time that plans being considered by bosses would see dogs used for specialist operations such as drugs raids being borrowed from a neighbouring force.

He said: “The force has to make difficult decisions to meet unprecedented cuts imposed on its budget. We are looking at every aspect of policing to identify savings and this includes the Dog Support Unit.”