POLICE TRAINING. The Police Regional Office-9 is conducting a six-month Basic Explosive Detection and Handlers Course to boost the crime prevention and law enforcement capability of the police forces in the Zamboanga Peninsula. A total of 46 handlers of bomb-sniffing dogs are undergoing training at Camp Col. Romeo Abendan in Zamboanga City. (Photo courtesy of PRO-9 Public Information Office)
ZAMBOANGA CITY--Forty-six policemen assigned as handlers of bomb-sniffing dogs are undergoing a six-month Basic Explosive Detection and Handlers Course here, a top police official said Friday.
Brig. Gen. Jesus Cambay Jr., Police Regional Office-9 (PRO-9) director, said the training kicked-off Wednesday and is being held at the firing range of Camp Col. Romeo Abendan that houses the PRO-9 headquarters here.
Cambay said the 46 policemen are assigned as handlers in the different police stations across the region and will form as the additional K9 teams set to augment the Explosive Ordnance Demolition (EOD) of PRO-9 in the event their service is needed.
“The K9 team, which is composed of explosives detection dogs with two handlers, will be trained with the various search conduct, such as open search, baggage search, building or room search and vehicle search to detect the odor and presence of explosives, thus enhance the PNP’s ability to protect facilities and resources, prevent crime and provide law enforcement services,” he said.
The PRO-9 director noted that one of the most effective countermeasures against terrorists and criminals is the" deterrent value and the detection capability" of the K9 team.
He said the K9 teams will be deployed in the checkpoints and roadblocks, cordon and search operations, force protection and anti-terrorism operations, suspicious and unattended package response, bomb threats, high-risk personnel searches, access control points, and aircraft and luggage searches. (PNA)
