Canine Unit Assists Canadian Armed Forces in Training

Peel Regional Police (PRP) prides itself on maintaining an excellent working relationship with other police services and community partners which includes dynamic training scenarios.  Recently, four teams from our Canine Unit travelled to Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Petawawa to assist Canadian Armed Forces on the Advanced Sniper Training Course.

The elite soldiers on this course received a lecture from the Master Trainer of the PRP Canine Unit, Constable Mike Anderson. The lecture was followed by an opportunity to put what they had just learned into action during the “escape and evasion scenario” portion of their course.

This scenario began by dropping four teams of snipers into four separate locations.  They were given destination coordinates, a map and a compass. They were then tasked with navigating through 12 kilometres of forest including numerous natural obstacles which had to be overcome. The PRP canine teams were deployed 15 minutes later with a mission of locating a track and following the trail of scent until ultimately locating the sniper teams who already had a sizeable head start towards their destination.   Despite the harsh terrain and cold, wet conditions, it was a 50/50 split with two of the canine teams successfully completing their mission and locating the snipers, while the other two sniper teams were successful in reaching their destination without capture.

The members of the CF training staff were extremely grateful for the assistance of the PRP Canine unit. The presence of canine teams made the scenario more realistic and added pressure to the escape and evasion exercise, which is a vital portion of their training. This was also an extremely valuable training opportunity for the participating canine teams to test their training and handling skills in some of the most challenging conditions.

“This type of collaborative training is mutually beneficial for all involved. The Peel Regional Police Canine Unit is proud of the longstanding relationship we have built with our Military. Our canine handlers have expressed a strong desire to continue taking advantage of any opportunity to train with them in future years to come,” said Sergeant Nigel Smedmor of the PRP Canine Unit.

The canine teams that participated in the training were Cst. Jason Senechal and PSD Riker, Cst. Jarrett Curtis and PSD Griffin, Cst. Jason Silverberg and PSD Max, and Cst. Kurtis Vaughan and PSD Timber.