Tasmania only state without general purpose police dog

Tasmania remains the only state or territory in Australia that does not have police dogs for general duties.

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Despite calls from the police union for more than a decade, and a successful Tasmanian trial with a general purpose dog in 2017, the gap has not been filled.

In the Sunshine State, the Queensland Police dog squad is made up of 94 dogs in total - including German shepherds, Labradors, and English springer spaniels.

Not only does Queensland Police use these dogs for sniffing out drugs and detecting explosives, but about 50 per cent of them are used within the prison system.

The NSW drug squad has even more breeds, with Belgian malinois', and rottweilers used as siege dogs.

Their dog squad also has a dedicated human remains dog.

In both South Australia and the Northern Territory German shepherds are used for general purposes, and Labradors are used for drug and explosive detection, just as they are in Victoria, and Western Australia.

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Meanwhile in the ACT, the Australian Federal Police use general purpose dogs for searching open and rural areas, tracking offenders, tracking missing persons, searching buildings, searching for evidence and apprehending violent or fleeing offenders.

But in Tasmania, the only dog of choice is the Labrador, with six in total - four drug dogs, and two firearms and explosives dogs.

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While Tasmania Police has arrangements with the other jurisdictions to borrow tracking, and cadaver dogs - which find human remains - the state's police union has argued the resource is not time efficient.

The issue was raised again earlier this year, when an alleged murderer was on the run in Launceston.

During the extensive search throughout bushland, Tasmania Police considered calling on Victoria Police to supply tracking dogs to assist.

It prompted backlash from the union, which said tracking dogs needed to be utilised within a very limited period of time, before the scent disappeared.

As part of a broader budget submission sent to Premier Peter Gutwein last week, the Police Association of Tasmania has asked for three general duties dogs for tracking, and other purposes - one in the North, one in the West, and one in the South.

Tasmania Police has also yet to increase its drug dog numbers, despite a funding commitment from the state government in 2018 to purchase three more.

"The association has been requesting these general duties dogs for at least 10 years now," President Colin Riley said.

"We are the only police jurisdiction without this capability."

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When questioned about the need for a general purpose dog, Police Minister Mark Shelton provided a brief statement.

An almost identical statement was previously provided to The Examiner in January, but quoted by Tasmania Police Assistant Commissioner Adrian Bodnar.

"Specialist dog handling teams from other jurisdictions can be in Tasmania within two hours of a request for assistance, providing an enhanced response capability in a very short time frame," Mr Shelton wrote.

"Acquiring a general purpose dog in Tasmania remains an option if needed in the future."

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Commenting on the issue again on Wednesday, Assistant Commissioner Bodnar reiterated the same message.

"A 2017 trial of general purpose dogs was positive, but with low demand for their specialist skills in Tasmania, for the immediate future we will continue to rely on resource sharing arrangements with other jurisdictions when needed," he said.

Beyond the lack of a general purpose dog, Mr Riley said Tasmania Police was also yet to increase its drug dog numbers, despite funds from the state government in 2018 to purchase three more.

The investment was announced as part of the state government's "war on ice".

"The association is at a loss to understand why Tasmania Police has not increased the drug detection dogs by three, knowing this is a funded Liberal Government election commitment to the association," he said.

"It shows Tasmania Police has disregarded a government's election commitment and pursued its own purpose.

"Where does this end, if the elected government commits and provides funds to do something for the community and a government body decides not to do that, what is the accountability and transparency mechanisms that sit around that."

Assistant Commissioner Bodnar argued the police department's capability review had determined the current dog squad met operational needs.

"Since 2014 the unit has increased by three dogs and handlers - two drug and one firearms/explosive detection dog."

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