Meet Gordon – the four-year-old German shepherd that’s trained to sniff and search.

And he’s calling the Oxley command home – for four weeks at least.

Along with handler Senior Constable Ben Cook, the pair will be on call and ready to swoop should a suspect flee the scene of a crime, or a search is mounted.

“It provides another tool to our police who are working in the field, giving us the edge on some of the criminal activity around the area,” Oxley crime manager Inspector Phil O’Reilly said yesterday.

And there was no rest after arriving in Tamworth on Monday, with the pair hitting the beat on numerous jobs yesterday.

“There are specific operations that will be held in that period and we hope that Senior Constable Cook and Gordon will be able to assist in tracking and searching and assisting in those day-to-day operations,” Inspector O’Reilly said.

While police won’t divulge the details, proactive operations are in the works to make the most of the dog unit’s presence in the command.

One focus in particular is the recent spate of nighttime robberies and home invasions, but they will also need the public’s help.

“There have been some opportunistic robberies that have occurred recently. There have also been some home invasion-type offences reported and those are the types of offences we hope to deploy the dog handler to, to quickly assist us in tracking those offenders as soon as they leave the scene,” Inspector O’Reilly said.

“I urge the community to continue to report to police any suspicious activity and any crimes that are occurring, so that will enable us to deploy this resource as soon as possible and ensure it will be effective in assisting us in the investigation of those crimes.”

Senior Constable Cook has trained Gordon, who has just nudged two years in the dog squad based in the Sydney metropolitan area, right from the word go.

The police hierarchy won’t say how the success of the trial will be evaluated, but Oxley command won’t have the final say over whether it will permanently bolster the ranks. 

“Senior Constable Cook still works for the dog unit and they will be monitoring his activities while he is working in Oxley,” Inspector O’Reilly said.

The dog unit will primarily spend its time in Tamworth and the greater Oxley area, unless called out to the neighbouring Barwon and New England commands.