Police dogs to be trained nationwide to detect spiking drugs after pilot
A specialist police dog team in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Hampshire has been finding spiking drugs in pubs, clubs and festivals, and forces nationwide can now train dogs in the same way.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
A specialist police dog unit has been deployed to pubs, clubs and festivals to find drugs used to spike drinks, food and vapes, after a pilot scheme in four counties. The scheme involves six dogs, including two-year-old Puma, whose trial outside a nightclub showed how quickly he could identify one of the illegal chemicals commonly used to spike drinks. Handlers say the searches are a game for the dogs. They do not understand the implications, but they want to please their handler and earn a toy and playtime at the end.
The pilot covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Hampshire. Dusty is another of the six dogs now working at venues. The teams are responding to spiking, which surveys suggest around a million people a year in the UK could experience. Only a small proportion go to the police. Of those who do, two-thirds are women and a third are men.
Mark, who took his children to a music festival five years ago, described how he got outside, fell to his knees and collapsed, leaving his children worried. He remembers little until quite a few hours later. He called for a concerted effort from everyone, including children and adults looking after themselves, parents looking after children, venue owners looking after people in their venues, the police looking after the public and the government helping.
A handler rejected criticism that the dogs are a waste of police time. When people ask why officers are not out catching rapists and murderers, the handler said the answer is that they are doing exactly that. The officer said it felt good to be part of something proactively looking for predators and to be a teammate of the dog. The success of the pilot means forces nationwide have been given the green light to train their dogs in the same way.
Officers said it is hard to measure what the dogs prevent, but an offender heading to a venue could see them outside and decide to go home. By identifying suspects and deterring criminals before they strike, the team has shown the potential of police dogs to make nights out safer for everyone.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 5 |
|---|---|
| Six dogs were deployed to pubs, clubs and festivals in a pilot scheme across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Hampshire. | |
| Surveys suggested around one million people a year could be victims of spiking, with few reporting to police and around two-thirds of victims being women. | |
| The pilot scheme's success enabled police forces nationwide to train dogs in the same way. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The channel led with the dog pilot as a practical, positive answer to spiking. It mixed operational detail with a handler's rebuttal of public criticism and a male victim's personal account. It also highlighted the nationwide rollout and the deterrent effect of dogs outside venues.
- “Surveys suggest a million people a year could be victims of spiking, though only a small proportion go to the police. Of them, two-thirds are women and a third are men.”
- “It's hard to measure what we prevent, of course, but there's every possibility. Someone that was going into that venue to offend that night sees us outside and thinks, actually, I'm just going to go home.”
- “The success of this pilot now means forces nationwide have been given the green light to train their dogs in the same way.”
Broadcast Timeline
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