Dogs were first deployed in the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in 1911. An Airedale Terrier was acquired from the British army officer to track down escaped prisoners. Unfortunately, the dog died the following year and the police reconsidered their decision to involve dogs in their operations.
In 1954, following the successful use of police dogs in the United Kingdom (UK), Chief Inspector Frank C. Pestana was sent to the Metropolitan Police Dog Training School to attend a 3-month Dog Instructor Dog Course. He returned with five German Shepherds in 1955. The dogs were based at the Police Academy together with four trainee handlers. After five months of training, the handlers and dogs formed the nucleus of the Police dog Unit and were mainly deployed to suppress secret society activities and disorderly crowds, perform anti-housebreaking patrols and tracking of criminals.
In 1958, the British Army Guard Dog Unit gifted four German Shepherds to the Singapore Police Force. By 1965, the total dog strength increased to 23. However a severe epidemic of Aplastic anemia from 1965 - 1966 wiped out the majority of dogs in the Unit leaving only five survivors. In 1969, the Australian Government donated four dogs to the Police Force and a year later in 1970, the British Army donated nine more dogs to the Unit.
In the same year, the Police Dog Unit shifted to the Mowbray Camp along Ulu Pandan Road which had a bigger training space and enabled the sharing of common dog training and kenneling facilities with the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Provost Unit Dog Wing. Then, the Police Dog Unit was functioning with 35 dogs and 48 Police Officers.
In 1987, the Police Dog Unit took over the Custom Dog Unit its 48 Narcotics Detector (NDD) teams. The dogs were deployed at all the major entry points at Singapore's borders (i.e Changi Airport, Tuas and Woodlands Checkpoints, Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and Changi Ferry Terminal). In 1995, Police Dog Unit took over the assets ad functions of the Prison Dog Unit together with the established strength of 64 Security Dog (SD) and SD-Handler posts. The SD teams are deployed for security coverage duties at Penal Institutions and Drug Rehabilitation Centers.
In May 2002, Police Dog Unit embarked on the Explosive Detector Dog (EDD) programme after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States of America. The pioneer batch of six handlers attended the Initial Explosive Search Dog course in UK in August 2002.
On 18 December 2002, the Police Dog Unit was relocated to the (current) base at 2 Mowbray Road (Off Choa Chu Kang Way). The new base has a land area of 2.8 hectares and is equipped with state of-the-art training facilities and kennels.
A New Home
The base was officially opened on 31 January 2004 by the former Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Wong Kan Seng, comprising an administrative block, a training field, a training block for Narcotic Dogs, General Purpose Dogs and Security Dogs, a training block for explosive Detector Dog, a total of 160 kennels and other ancillary facilities.
A New Identity
The Police Dog Unit was renamed Police K-9 Unit 2003, due to the homophonic connection with the word "canine". The "K-9 Unit" refers to both the police dog as well as its handler. It also adopted a logo with the three main features, primarily its new name, 'Police K-9 Unit' accompanied with the words 'Special Operations Command' to identify its link to its parent unit and finally represented by the German Shepherd.
In 1954, following the successful use of police dogs in the United Kingdom (UK), Chief Inspector Frank C. Pestana was sent to the Metropolitan Police Dog Training School to attend a 3-month Dog Instructor Dog Course. He returned with five German Shepherds in 1955. The dogs were based at the Police Academy together with four trainee handlers. After five months of training, the handlers and dogs formed the nucleus of the Police dog Unit and were mainly deployed to suppress secret society activities and disorderly crowds, perform anti-housebreaking patrols and tracking of criminals.
In 1958, the British Army Guard Dog Unit gifted four German Shepherds to the Singapore Police Force. By 1965, the total dog strength increased to 23. However a severe epidemic of Aplastic anemia from 1965 - 1966 wiped out the majority of dogs in the Unit leaving only five survivors. In 1969, the Australian Government donated four dogs to the Police Force and a year later in 1970, the British Army donated nine more dogs to the Unit.
In the same year, the Police Dog Unit shifted to the Mowbray Camp along Ulu Pandan Road which had a bigger training space and enabled the sharing of common dog training and kenneling facilities with the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Provost Unit Dog Wing. Then, the Police Dog Unit was functioning with 35 dogs and 48 Police Officers.
In 1987, the Police Dog Unit took over the Custom Dog Unit its 48 Narcotics Detector (NDD) teams. The dogs were deployed at all the major entry points at Singapore's borders (i.e Changi Airport, Tuas and Woodlands Checkpoints, Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and Changi Ferry Terminal). In 1995, Police Dog Unit took over the assets ad functions of the Prison Dog Unit together with the established strength of 64 Security Dog (SD) and SD-Handler posts. The SD teams are deployed for security coverage duties at Penal Institutions and Drug Rehabilitation Centers.
In May 2002, Police Dog Unit embarked on the Explosive Detector Dog (EDD) programme after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States of America. The pioneer batch of six handlers attended the Initial Explosive Search Dog course in UK in August 2002.
On 18 December 2002, the Police Dog Unit was relocated to the (current) base at 2 Mowbray Road (Off Choa Chu Kang Way). The new base has a land area of 2.8 hectares and is equipped with state of-the-art training facilities and kennels.
A New Home
The base was officially opened on 31 January 2004 by the former Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Wong Kan Seng, comprising an administrative block, a training field, a training block for Narcotic Dogs, General Purpose Dogs and Security Dogs, a training block for explosive Detector Dog, a total of 160 kennels and other ancillary facilities.
A New Identity
The Police Dog Unit was renamed Police K-9 Unit 2003, due to the homophonic connection with the word "canine". The "K-9 Unit" refers to both the police dog as well as its handler. It also adopted a logo with the three main features, primarily its new name, 'Police K-9 Unit' accompanied with the words 'Special Operations Command' to identify its link to its parent unit and finally represented by the German Shepherd.