Drug dogs head to shopping centre
Tayside Police dogs are honing their drug-sniffing skills at a shopping centre in Perth.
The animals will be trained to detect the illegal substances while people go about their day-to-day business at the St. John’s Centre.
Signs will be put up in the mall advising people when the exercises are taking place.
Training is already held at places like the Odeon cinema, Tesco’s distribution warehouse and a self storage firm.
PC Ron Anderson, the force’s dog training instructor, said: “Police dogs play an ever increasing role in policing within the community, so training in public areas is essential to hone the dog’s skills and equip both them and their handlers to deal with incidents in all types of environments.
“Of course, should our dog handlers come across anyone committing a criminal offence, they will deal with it as they would any other crime.”
Siobhan McConnell, manager of the St John’s Shopping Centre, added: ”This is a proactive initiative that will reassure retailers and law abiding visitors to St John’s Shopping Centre that we are committed to ensuring this is a safe and pleasant place to shop.
“We will not tolerate the use or the possession of illegal narcotics on our premises and are pleased to work in partnership with Tayside Police in respect of this.”
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