Meet the newest drug detecting duo tackling crime across Tasmania: Senior Constable Josh Partridge and P.D Aggie

But the Scottsdale-born senior constable says life is "all about being positive".

Before joining Tasmania Police he worked as a sign manufacturer, but on the side, he was a professional clown named Rusti.

"It is not as exciting as it sounds," he laughed.

"I helped a friend who was working as a magician, and my nan made me a cracking clown costume. I was pretty much a festival clown, I dressed up and went to the regional shows, and did Festivale for a few years."

While he has since hung up his clown shoes, he still uses the same people skills and sense of humour to deal with criminals. Joining the force in 2009 when he was 25, he was stationed in Launceston for two years before he was moved to the one-man station at Liawenee.

"It was mostly general policing up there, and I did a lot of work with landowners and the DPIPWE wildlife rangers, investigating hunting activities," he said.

"It was great, because I didn't have kids so I had plenty of time to dedicate to work.

"It was also a great opportunity to develop skills as a police officer, because in that role you are pretty separated from the supervisor."

It was during his five years working "up the lakes" he experienced a traumatic incident, where a Ravenswood man high on meth repeatedly shot at officers during an attempted arrest.

Nobody was physically injured, but the shooting left a lasting impact on some of the officers involved.

For Senior Constable Partridge, it was a side of the job he knew he had to expect.

"The rate of emergency workers struggling with mental health is high, and I am a big fan of talking about that, and making it as open of a conversation as possible," he said.

"For me personally, it was a job with a great result, we got a really nasty offender, and no members of the public were hurt. The support from the department was great as well."

Leaving his post at Liawenee, after his two children were born, he headed South to be part of the road and public order service.

It was while he was in RPOS that he had the opportunity to complete a stint with the drug squad. But in a sudden turn of events his time with the drug squad was cut short - he learned he had cancer.

The discovery was made after he was injured chasing a meth dealer.

"I went and got checked, and they found testicular cancer," he said.

When he first heard the word cancer, he panicked, thinking of his children.

"My kids were two and four at the time, that was probably the hardest part, I thought 'that's it, it is cancer I am going to die and my kids will grow up without a dad'.

"But testicular cancer actually has a really high survival rate. I had surgery and was back at work after about eight weeks."

After the cancer scare he was transferred to Dover, another one-man station, before landing the highly coveted role of drug dog handler.

Growing up on a farm under Mt Barrow, he learned to love working with dogs, and now he is using that experience in his new role within Tasmania Police's Southern Drug Investigation Services.

Working with Labrador Aggie, Senior Constable Partridge said he was looking forward to completing his training and getting back to "disrupting drug supply" in the state.

"At Liawenee, the community work was great, and you are helping people solve problems, but now I am more on the frontline," he said.

"I have developed a really keen interest in drug work, and I get a lot of satisfaction out of disrupting supply.

"Combine that with the fact you get to work with a really cool dog, it's a pretty good job."

He is now one of six handlers across the state, with six dogs - one drug dog in the North, a drug dog and a firearms and explosives detector dog in the West, and two drug dogs and one firearms and explosives detector dog in the South.

"I am really keen to get signed off and be operational, as good as the training has been I'm keen to put my training to use on the streets.

"The dogs are a really good hardworking asset and we are a statewide resource, so we get to travel around a bit."

As for Aggie, Senior Constable Partridge was still getting to know his new partner.

"She is super energetic, which poses its own challenges as she is harder to manage, but she is a really keen worker," he said.

"She lives with me at home, and my kids have had a ball with her, they call her their 'hide and seek dog'."

With a general working life of six to eight years, the dogs typically spend their career with the same handler - making vacancies in the squad rare.

"Aggie already has about four years of working experience, so I will have her for two years, and then hopefully if I am good enough, I will get another dog," Senior Constable Partridge said.

When Aggie retires, he said there would be a long list of people eager to adopt her, but not just anybody would have that privilege.

"We already have another dog, and then with the new working dog, realistically we would not be able to adopt Aggie, but there is an internal waiting list."

For now, she will be right by Senior Constable Partridge's side, sniffing out drugs, and fighting crime.

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