PD Ziggy and PD Stanley assist in arrests and recovering property

Dogs from the Merseyside Police Dogs Unit have been showing off their specialist skills by assisting officers in detaining suspects and recovering property.

At around 12.20am yesterday, Thursday 20 June, officers were called to reports of a domestic assault at a house in Tranmere. A male was reported to have left the house.

Dog patrols attended and a search of the area was carried out. PD Ziggy (above left) and his handler assisted in detaining the male a short distance away.

A 44-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He has been released on bail pending further enquiries.

At 4.45pm yesterday a dog patrol was called to a property in Halewood to assist the Online Child Abuse Investigation Team (OCAIT).

Following the arrest of a 56-year-old man for making/possessing indecent images of children PD Stanley (above right) carried out a search of the property and located four mobile phones which had been hidden in the premises. The man was further arrested for breaching a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

Dog section Inspector Katie Wilkinson said: “Just these two examples show the breadth and importance of the work that is carried out by our police dogs and their handlers on a daily basis to protect the people of Merseyside.

“We are very proud of the vital role our Dog Section plays in the apprehension of suspects – it is no exaggeration to say their work day in day out is vital in assisting our officers in making arrests or carrying out searches to assist investigations.

“Often it is not even required to deploy a police dog at a scene as the threat of deployment is often enough to deter an offender or encourage someone to give themselves up.”