Two new four-legged members of the Blood Tribe Police Service (BTPS) are now out on patrol. Eight-year-old Fergus and three-year-old Grizzly, both German Shepherds, are the first two K9s to be employed by the BTPS. “It’s going to be a huge benefit to the service,” said Const. Matt Lapointe, a K9 handler with BTPS. “In the last couple of months that the K9s have been operational, we’ve already seen a drastic reduction in the time frame it takes us to investigate something where the dog is needed.” The police dogs come as part of the service’s new public safety K9 unit, designed to help strengthen public safety, crime prevention and community services across the Nation. Lapointe says both dogs are trained to track suspects and missing people, as well as to apprehend criminals. “Fergus can help us with fire investigations,” he said. “He’s trained on 14 different ignitable liquids; he can tell us if any of those have been used to start a fire or accelerate a fire. “And then Grizzly has drug detection capabilities, so he’s trained to detect fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, that sort of thing.” The K9s began their service with BTPS in November. “This isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity,” said BTPS Chief Grant Buckskin. Before the dogs arrived, the service relied on the RCMP to provide K9 services, but Buckskin says response times could be up to two hours. “It’s big relief, to be quite honest,” he said. “It’s not the fault of our policing partners; that’s just things that happen. But now we have that tool readily available.” Buckskin says the K9s also add another layer to conducting investigations by helping to locate evidence and assisting in high-risk situations. “We’re all aware of the drug and opioid problems not only in our community but in society in general, and for us, this gives us a tool to combat that,” he said. Currently, Lapointe is the only officer in the new unit and works with both Fergus and Grizzly. The BTPS hopes to add four more officers to the unit in the next 18 months. “We wanted to build a very community-oriented K9 police program, so our dogs are not just a tool with the police service but rather members of the community that they’re working in,” said Lapointe.
