Air dogs

Editorial: Danielle Ford

Photography: Scott McNaughton

It's 9.45pm on a Tuesday night and a member of Victoria Police's Dog Squad is tracking an offender who fled a high-speed vehicle pursuit on foot through parklands north of the Melbourne CBD.

With the police dog leading the way, nose to the ground, the officer gets communications from above.

A tactical flight officer onboard a Police Air Wing helicopter hovering above updates the handler and his canine colleague on the ground on the offender’s movements.

The chopper is equipped with a state-of-theart camera system, which is focused on the offender and tracking his every move.

Using this information from Air Wing, the police officer and his dog head left and after a short period they locate the offender, with the dog taking them down as the arrest is executed.

An arrest like this is not a one-off thing.

As a support service for a variety of units across Victoria Police, Air Wing is regularly called upon to assist on these types of jobs, with Dog Squad being one of the most regular users.

The two units are combining for an average of 25 arrests per week, with car theft being the most common offence.

Dog Squad Leading Senior Constable Lachy Natoli said when on jobs where an offender is fleeing on foot, having a set of eyes in the sky to assist is invaluable.

Ldg Sen Const Lachy Natoli and his canine colleague Izac combine forces with Air Wing on a regular basis to track down offenders.

“Our dogs can track them, but Air Wing is able to see the whole area, in very high quality, which means we can apprehend the offender quicker,” Ldg Sen Const Natoli said.

“Rather than us having to guess which path the offender has taken, Air Wing can track them down from above and give us directions to intercept them, as they have view of our position along with the offender's.”

The recent expansion of Air Wing’s fleet, which consists of a Beechcraft Super King 350ER plane and three Leonardo AW139 helicopters, has meant the unit is able to assist Dog Squad and other teams in more ways than it could before.

A recent joint operation in Mildura saw the two teams combine over four days to conduct 18 arrests.

Members of Dog Squad travelled to the regional town by car while Air Wing’s new fixed wing plane flew to Mildura and was based at the local airfield.

Air Wing’s new fleet of helicopters allows the unit to transport more people at once. The helicopters can carry five passengers in addition to the three crew members required to fly.

“The benefit of the plane in this type of operation is that when it’s in the air assisting Dog Squad in tracking offenders, it can stay up longer without needing to re-fuel,” Air Wing Senior Sergeant Alex Amici said.

“It’s also quieter and able to fly lower, which gives us even better visibility of the offender and the Dog Squad handler and dog.”

The expanded Air Wing fleet is also benefitting Dog Squad and other Victoria Police tactical units as the three new helicopters can transport more people at once.

The duo use intelligence from the chopper in the sky to ensure offenders have less chance of evading arrest.

“In addition to the three Air Wing crew required to operate the helicopters, we can now carry an additional five people on board,” Sen Sgt Amici said.

“We’ve had occasions lately where we’ve transported a Dog Squad officer, their dog and four members of the Critical Incident Response Team to jobs in regional Victoria.

“With the old helicopters, we couldn’t take all these people at once and they would have had to drive, which would take a lot longer.”

A/Sgt Simon Ward and his partner Toby work closely with Air Wing.

Ldg Sen Const Natoli said the partnership between Air Wing and Dog Squad was invaluable and on jobs they worked together, the chances of completing an arrest was far higher.

“When we combine with Air Wing to execute an arrest, we apprehend the offenders about 90 per cent of the time,” he said.