Sniffing out crime

Ruff justice was introduced to the Kimberley last week with the announcement of the region’s first police dog.

This week, the region will be able to pick a bone with the dog’s new handler.

Senior Constable Ben Cartmill has become the new handler for Hank, a 14-month old Belgian Malinois, and the pair will travel around the Kimberley sniffing out crime.

The pair first met when Hank arrived in Broome on Tuesday, January 15, and have spent the past week bonding and training together.

Despite it being early days, Const. Cartmill has already noticed Hank has a relaxed personality.

“At this stage, he seems to be a nice, friendly dog,” he said.

“From what I have seen at training, he’s perfect for what you want in a working dog — when he’s training there’s a high intensity but at home he’ll just relax.

“I’m looking forward to travelling around the Kimberley working with Hank.”

When it comes to being a police dog handler, this is not Const. Cartmill’s first time at the rodeo.

“My previous dog’s name was Petey Buckey and together we serviced the Perth Metro region and the Mid West for 51/2 years,” he said.

“Eventually Petey retired and I had to leave the K-9 unit so I moved to Broome and had been working in general duties for about eight months.

“When we found out there was going to be a police dog coming to the Kimberley, I was happy to put my hand up and do it again.

“Hank is a lot quicker than Petey so I’ll have to do some more running to make sure I can keep up with him.”

Const. Cartmill said there was an overwhelming need for a police dog in the Kimberley District.

“The role of a dog is not only to support the officers that are already out there, but also to support the community,” he said.

“While we will be based in Broome, we’ll be travelling all over the region — where there’s a job is where we’ll be. I think the Kimberley will enjoy knowing that when they call, there will be another resource out there to assist them.”