Our newest crime fighting canine graduated from puppy police school last Friday, following his final testing with handler Constable Adam Gersback.

Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson said “if criminals in our community are worried about the presence of the local Police Dog Unit, they should be.

“We’ve been lucky enough to have the Police Dog Unit based permanently in our region for over a year now and local police tell me that it has been a fantastic asset to the team.

And it’s not just Tamworth that is seeing the benefits of the unit on the ground, with the team being deployed across the whole of the New England and North West, throughout the Oxley, Barwon and New England Local Area Commands.

The permanent Police Dog Unit position was secured in early 2015, following extensive lobbying.

5,000 people signed a petition which was organised by local Tamworth resident Renee Bourne, following a series of break and enters on her family business.

“Our local police do a fantastic job and they deserve the best resources and I want to keep building our local police force numbers to help keep our community and streets safe,” Mr Anderson said.

“I thank Constable Gersback for continuing to serve in our local community and look forward to hearing more of the great work they are doing as part of our local police service.”