Dog Handler Nigel Rousell - A day in the life - Careers - Surrey Police

Profile: Dog Handler Nigel Rousell (with Jake & Archie)

With two police dogs (never mind the other three!) living with me at home, it's an early start even though today's shift doesn't start until mid-afternoon. The responsibility of looking after the dogs is a 7/365 job, and at 07.00 they need walking and feeding.

Both my police dogs are German Shepherds: Jake (6 yrs old) is a general purpose dog (biting, tracking, searching, public disorder and firearms support), while Archie (3 yrs old) is a non-compliant attack dog - supporting the firearms division, Archie is trained to bite a target (in a hostage situation, for example) where shooting is not an option.

So it's a 15.00 book-on, and even though there might not be a call right away myself and the dogs don't just sit around waiting. We'll be in the van, patrolling and pro-actively doing tasks. As it happens, today there's a call from a Neighbourhood Specialist Officer, who's in pursuit of an offender on foot.

This is one of the many jobs a general purpose dog like Jake is trained for. Pursuing anyone on foot is never easy; police dogs make the task much easier due to their speed, dexterity and, of course, their extremely powerful sense of smell.

Pretty quickly, Jake's found the human scent, and it leads him to a bush, where the offender is trying (in vain) to hide. Jake barks to let me know he's found him and waits for assistance. I lead Jake away while two officers come to make the arrest. In this instance, the youth is particularly stubborn and struggles, breaking one of the officer's hands. For everyone's safety, I have to stay back with Jake until the youth is restrained.

At 23.30 I get a call back to work. There's a siege in Fareham, Hampshire, and they need a non-compliant attack dog at the scene (Hampshire Police's dog has been there all day and needs to rest, and there are no others available at that time). I now have to arrange getting the van back from the officer set to use it for the morning shift and then head out with Archie.

What's happened is that a man had been keeping his partner locked inside the house, and when she tried to escape from a window he dragged her back inside and is holding her hostage with a knife. My job - and Archie's - is to be present while the police waiting and try to negotiate with the man, at least until the Hampshire police dog is rested and back on duty. This happens at 08.30, and we can go home again. The hostage-taker gives himself up just over an hour later.

So now it's Tuesday, and I'm on call until 13.00! I'm pretty tired, but the job I have makes it easier to deal with the tiredness. We're a proactive, highly skilled, close-knit team, and we're pleased to be a first line of support for both the community and for our fellow officers.

It can be difficult, yes, but then so can any job. What I find particularly satisfying are the good news stories of police dogs that have helped find missing people and so often saving lives (it's not just about catching criminals), and I'm glad to say there are a number of such stories around here.