Here is a summary of the latest police and emergency services news on the Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island.

Traffic news

At about 5pm on Sunday 1 November, patrols stopped a 70-year-old local man on Grey Street, Strathalbyn. He submitted to a breath test and returned reading of 0.196.  He lost his licence on the spot for twelve months and had his vehicle impounded for 28 days. He will be summonsed to appear in court at a later date. The man was also issued with an on the spot fine for driving an unregistered vehicle.

Graduation Day for Police Dogs Judge, Rusty and Orbit

Two General Purpose (GP) German Shepherd dogs and one Firearms and Explosive detector (FED) Labrador Retriever dog graduated with their handlers on Friday 30 October after completing their respective courses.

The dogs were selected due to their high drives, exceptional nerves and natural protective instincts.

During the demanding four-month GP training course, PD Rusty and PD Judge were trained in obedience exercises, agility, tracking, area and building searching and criminal apprehension techniques.

PD Orbit completed an eight week Firearms and Explosive Detector dog course where he was trained to detect numerous firearms / explosives odours. He has been trained to search buildings, open areas and vehicles and will complement the other ten specialist dog teams operating across the state.

Senior Constable First Class (SC1C) Levi Struthers graduated with PD Judge. Levi has been with the Dog Operations Unit for the past two years. He was formally a Passive Alert Drug Detection dog handler but has transitioned across to GP.

SC1C Ben Fisher graduated with PD Rusty, his first GP dog. Ben has been with the Dog Operations Unit for the past year.

SC1C Bryan Whitehorn graduated with PD Orbit. Bryan has had a long career in the Dog Operations Unit, next month marking 20 years of service in the Dog Operations Unit.

The dogs will undertake a variety of tasks including tracking suspects or missing people, area searching and article searching.

Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services Vincent Tarzia says SAPOL’s newest recruits would undertake a variety of tasks on the beat.

“These well-trained dogs will sniff out suspects, search for missing people and use their senses to locate objects or explosives and firearms,” he says.