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10 - PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, September 28,1993 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" New police unit hopes to take bite out of crime By Scott Anderson __ Port Perry Star A newly introduced unit with Durham ional Police hopes to take a bite out of crime. The police department's new canine unit hit the streets re- cently in hopes of adding an- other dimension to the growing police force. .. Leo, a three-year-old male German shepherd, and his han- dler Constable Peter Vander- duim, make up the fledgling ca- nine unit which has been on the streetssinceJuly. And the two have become in- separable since they began their relationship earlier this year. In order to work as a team, the two move together as a unit and are never apart. Leo lives at PC Vanderduim's home and has been accepted as part of the family, which took somewhat of an adjustment in the early stages of the relation- ship for he and his family. "It's a commitment and unfor- tunately when I made the com- mitment, my family got drawn in as well," he said. However, PC Vanderduim said his family has adjusted to the new lifestyle and new addi- tion to the family. oh Perhaps the toughest adjust- ment for the Vanderduim's was realizing the uniquenéss of Leo. "He's not 'a pet, so he gets treated differently," PC Vander- duim said. "He's a very sociable guy which can be a problem." Leo's main responsibility will be tracking, apprehension and building searches. He is not trained for drug, or explosives detection. + "This dog is probably the most 'common type of police dog in service," he said adding that it will provide them with a num- ber of key services as well as make it safer for the other offi- cers. It is the hope of PC Vander- duim that as time progresses, more dogs will be added to the unit to expand the force to pro- vide dogs trained in all aspects. But, due to fiscal restraints, it will be a number of years before any additions to the unit will be - contemplated. Funding for the As of September 28th H&M WRIGHT FEED COMPANY LTD. will be moving to our initial purchase ot Leo was pro- vided by the Oshawa Central Li- ons Club, who donated $22,000. PC Vanderduim said there is a definite need for a canine unit on a police force such as Dur- ham as the criminal element is becoming more sophisticated. "Policing in general is ex- POLICE ey - Ei or PE, panding and we are looking for new procedures and new equip- ment." "We are also dealing with peo- ple who are becoming more so- phisticated, so we must keep up to date." And if PC Vanderduim had it his way, he would like to see as many as five dogs on the force, which would provide onein each division of the region. iv / Despite the sophistication of the canine unit, PC Vander- duim cautions that the use of such a unit is far from perfect. "They're. not foolproof. It's hard for a lot of people to realize that." : As the team has only been to- gether for a few months, the ex- act role is still being defined, but PC Vanderduim anticipates the primary responsibility to in- volve tracking. The unit has been called upon in a few instances already with successful results. Although the canine unit is up and running smoothly, it was a rocky start for PC Vander- duim. Originally another dog was selected for the force, but after only a few weeks of acquiring the dog, they were forced to send it back after hip problems were discovered. This did not delay the sched- ule at all, but did provide some- what of an inconvenience to the force. To compound matters even further, just as everything was coming together, PC Vander- duim took a fall on some ice dur- ing a training session and broke a wrist. This set them back six weeks. Despite the growing pains, PC Vanderduim says every- NEW LOCATION 3 : thing is fitting into place now 4 at 3490 Highway 7A, just north of Blackstock and is happy with the progress. "It's all going 'according to plan, It's come together pretty well." ] operating as i Wright's Feeds"n Needs We are looking forward to 986-420 1 seeing you at our new store <4 a " i LR, 3 Fob SAN TR RY E fF pe va aA LO So 4 10 TE ¢ Qe p i i os Durham Regional Police recently introduced a Canine Unit to its patrols to add another dimension to its force. The unit will be primarily used for tracking and building searches. Pictured are Leo and his handler PC Peter Vanderduim going through their daily training program. See story. 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