January 20, 2005
By Sheree Russouw
"HE'S more than just a dog - he's my best friend," says senior inspector PJ September as he gazes at his collection of photos of Gizmo, his canine crime-fighting partner.
For the past four years, September and Gizmo the German shepherd, both of the Johannesburg Metro Police Department's award-winning canine unit, have worked side-by-side to bring down city criminals.
And their partnership, like many others at this unit located on the southern outskirts of downtown Johannesburg, is clearly working. September's office is crammed with medals and certificates that the crime-fighting duo has won since 2001.
"Both Gizmo and I go crazy when we haven't seen each other for a few days. My wife and my children love him just as much as I do. He is part of our family. And when he retires, he'll come live with us," September says resolutely.
Their relationship - and friendship - is the kind that aspirant police dog handlers and their new canine partners at the unit strive for.
And it's paying off. The unit's law-enforcement work has reportedly scooped it more awards than any other police dog unit in South Africa, according to Nick van Loggerenberg, the unit coordinator.
Last year alone, it's dogs and handlers won 48 awards that tested their agility and obedience in competitions run by the Kennel Union of SA and SA Working Dogs Association and others.
"That's not bad going for us. Just to participate in these competitions shows that you have to be up to scratch and really love and care for your animals," says Van Loggerenberg.
Its police officers and their four-legged companions are part of the police squad investigating the countrywide Nigerian child-prostitution ring that has made headlines in recent months.
In just two weeks in December, the unit arrested nearly 50 people for committing serious offences like drug dealing; confiscated drugs worth a million rand; and seized stolen goods with nearly the same price tag. Van Loggerenberg says the unit records similar statistics every month.
Building lasting bonds
Building and nourishing lasting bonds with the dogs is one of the main reasons behind the unit's success, according to Van Loggerenberg. Every day for the past 16 years, he has started off his day playing with the 70 dogs at the unit.
"I know all of our dogs here by their names and personalities. When I come to talk to the dogs and find out how they are, it just reinforces our bond," he says, stroking Bullet, a large and rather clumsy German shepherd whom Van Loggerenberg describes as "a clown chasing his own shadow".
He reserves a special greeting for Ed, a greying German shepherd. The elderly dog has won numerous awards in a 13-year career and his "legendary" pursuit of criminals has placed him a cut above the rest of the pack.
Most of the unit's offices, located on the expansive grassy grounds of an old brickyard in downtown Johannesburg, are filled with large photos of dogs.
Medals and certificates seem to pour out of the rooms. Outside, rabbits, chickens and geese, have the run of the green lawns.
Van Loggerenberg says it is the dogs and their handlers that are often charged with rushing to the scene of the most serious crimes in Johannesburg, including major bank robberies, bomb threats and drug busts.
But injury is rare - the most common injuries happen in dogfights, of course. "But over the years our dogs have been stabbed with knives and hit with irons," says Van Loggerenberg.
"We are the unit that is on the frontline. The dogs are often the last routes of escape and the criminals will do anything to get away - even if it means killing a dog. It does sound cruel but we would rather lose a dog than lose an officer."
No dogs at the unit are euthanased unless they become seriously ill. "Our one belief is that we don't put these dogs down," says Van Loggerenberg. "Our first option is to give them to their handler to take home. If the handler can't take them, then we find a home for them or they stay here at the unit and live their lives in peace."
And it takes a certain breed of police officer to partner with a dog, he says, adding that animal-lovers like September are often hard to come by in a hardened - and overworked - police service. Metro police officers have to have at least four years experience before they are allowed to apply for the job.
"It must be a special type of person who likes animals. It's funny but you can see which officer will be good and which won't once you put the dog and the potential handler together.
Finding the right person
"The right person for the job will pat the dog and show his emotions to the dog while the other person will be hesitant. We usually pair up dogs and handlers with the same personalities. If the handler is short-tempered, then the dog will usually be short tempered too."
With a minimum pass of 80 percent, many officers don't make it. Van Loggerenberg describes the courses, which include physical training, safety precautions, special instincts and monitoring dog behaviour, as "gruelling".
"But the training helps see which line the dog is most suited for. Once a team has qualified, they work for a year on the road. Then they spend another three months on a course specialising in narcotics or explosive detection."
The public donates most of the dogs to the unit. Says Van Loggerenberg: "They may think that the dog is too aggressive at home or the yard can be too small for them.
"Then we do medical tests to see how fit it is. We test the dog and see if it's got potential - we want to see what its temperament is and decide if it would be good at detecting explosives or drugs, or if it could be better used for search and rescue operations. Obviously, it must be a bit aggressive and not be gun-shy or scared of loud noises."
Although the German shepherds at the unit far outnumber any other breeds, there are a handful of cocker spaniels, border collies and bloodhounds, renowned for their excellent "scenting ability" and boundless energy.
But German shepherds are favoured because they can do pretty much anything. "These are multipurpose dogs. They have a lot of drive and can be used for search and rescue, narcotics and explosive detection and as service dogs that can track down criminals and apprehend fleeing suspects at courts, for example."
The unit was first created over 20 years ago by the then traffic department. And a lot has changed since then. "Back then dogs were trained to attack - and even kill - but now they are trained to hold the suspect and bark instead.
As a last resort
"Using our dogs is often our last resort. We want the dog to apprehend and hold the suspect. If they don't bite the suspect, then it's a thousand times better. Just the presence of a dog in a police vehicle is already a big crime deterrent. You get more right when you respect people than with aggression."
The notorious reputation of police dogs in the past has meant that most South Africans are terrified of them, says Van Loggerenberg. "Many people have this perception that these are killer dogs. People make them look bad."
That is why the unit regularly takes their dogs to schools and old age homes, especially in townships, to "try to improve the image of the dog".
The dogs are doing their bit too by taking to the catwalk and scuppering other police and security units with their model crime-fighting skills.
To ensure that the dogs aren't overworked, they are not allowed to live with their handlers while working for the Metro Police. "If the officers take them home, it is guaranteed that while they will relax for small periods of time, they'll spend most of the night guarding the family. That's unfair on the dogs," says Van Loggerenberg.
It may be costly to run the unit - Van Loggerenberg does not want to disclose the monthly figures - but he says the work the dogs do is priceless. "If our dogs save one life or get one criminal, then it's worth more than any amount of money."
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