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Newest member of MJPS canine unit quickly proving his worth Matthew Gourlie On his first day on the force, PSD Argo helped make his first criminal apprehension. Argo, the newest member of the Moose Jaw Police Service’s canine unit, and his partner Cst. Curtis Amiot had an eventful end to their first shift together in the field a month ago. “There was a guy who had warrants and we were bringing him out to the vehicle and he took off on us. The partner that I was with, she tried to chase him for a little while, and I ran to the vehicle to get Argo,” Cst. Amiot said. “We met up where she saw him last and we did a short track. I tried to get him to stop running and he wouldn’t listen after a couple of warnings, so Argo made him stop running. “The dogs aren’t there to rip people up. They’re there to hold. He came away with pretty minimal injuries.” That criminal apprehension helped show the utility of using dogs in policing. The MJPS have had a canine unit for nine years and Amiot feels having Argo available simplified the capture.
“Because we were able to end it quicker… it kept him from maybe injuring himself in the railyard or maybe somebody else.” -Cst. Curtis Amiot
“We were still 100 yards away and I could have closed the gap on the guy if I was by myself but having that option it was just over so much faster,” Amiot said. “We were by the railroad tracks and because (Argo) was so much faster than I would have been, Argo kept him off the tracks, it kept him away from the public. “Because we were able to end it quicker… it kept him from maybe injuring himself in the railyard or maybe somebody else. The speed and the power is definitely an asset.” The MJPS operate on one-officer vehicles during their patrols. As a partner, Argo is a little on the quiet side, but Amiot said it is nice to have someone out there who has your back if he is responding alone. “It is a little bit of a safety blanket knowing that you do have somebody with you if need be,” Amiot said. “If you feel like you’re maybe going to get into some sort of weapons-related incident, then it’s good to have that. A lot of times that’s a de-escalator. Some people see the dog and they don’t want to have any part of that. Even if he’s not used, his presence is sometimes a bit of a
Cst. Curtis Amiot with PSD Argo, the newest member of the Moose Jaw Police Service’s canine unit. Matthew Gourlie photograph deterrent.” Cst. Chad Scheske is the unit’s co-ordinator and has had a dog for nine years since the program’s inception. When the other member of the unit earned a promotion, Amiot won an internal competition to be the next member to work with a dog. The unit’s ranks will double this summer. Cst. Jim Biniaris and Merc, along with Cst. Aaron Woods and True both begin their training in mid-March as the MJPS will have four PSDs in the field by July. The training is 600 hours and works out to 16 weeks. By the end of the training, the dog and its handler must attain standards outlined by the Saskatchewan Provincial Standard for Police Dogs. The standard sets out the minimums that each team must be able to perform in order to provide service to the community in the following areas: tracking, evidence search, large and small building searches, compound searches and criminal apprehension. “It was a nice break, but I actually like working nights, so it was nice to come back,” Amiot said of his 16 weeks of training with Argo. “It was a good break from the radio and getting calls, but canine training was a lot more mentally demanding than I thought it was going to be.” Part of the training time also allowed Amiot and Argo to bond together. “He lives at my house, so that’s all a part of us building a bond,” Amiot said. “He’s set up outside, but he comes home every night with me and he’s mine to take care of. That’s part of the bonding process that I’m directing him
99 per cent of the time.” The two also travel into Regina once a month to take part in further training with members of the Regina Police Service. Argo aided in tracking a suspect from a pharmacy robbery on Feb. 4. He has also been used for two building searches that ended up being useful training exercises, though there was no one present either time. Amiot is looking forward to some warmer weather which will make Argo’s job much easier. “This is really tough tracking weather,” Amiot said. “With the pharmacy (robbery) it was minus-30 and there was a bunch of snow. He did OK, but I’m excited for the snow to melt and for us to start working on some soft surface like some grass. You have to imagine that even the temperature has an effect.” Argo is a 19-month old purebred German shepherd from Slovakia. The hope is that a member of the canine unit will service between 5-7 years depending on their health. Cst. Scheske is on his third dog after the first two were retired after three years each. The Regina Police Service just retired a dog after nine years. Hip problems have been one of the issues with some of the dogs who retired early, which is why Argo came from Europe. “The North American line of German shepherds, their bodies are a little different. Over time their hips get a little lower so you’ll see that sloped back of a German shepherd, whereas Argo is a little more square to the ground,” Amiot explained. Amiot and Argo work in 12-hour shifts. Amiot is in the regular patrol queue like everyone else. Amiot enjoys still doing regular investigations, but the shift does have challenges. “The biggest challenge is trying to get your dog out every few hours to go for a bathroom break and maybe to get a little bit of exercise and trying to wiggle that between calls. Sometimes that’s the biggest challenge,” Amiot said. Amiot is part of the same team he was working with before he and Argo began their training. He said it’s been a smooth transition so far and credits Sgt. Randy Jesse and the rest of his team for that. “He’s really pro-dog and he thinks we really have some good use and he likes the stuff we can do and what we can get into,” Amiot said. “We’re in the queue so it’s up to the sergeants and the supervisors and maybe dispatch to pick if they want to keep you out of something that’s going to tie you up for a long time or if they’re going to send you on something that is maybe more applicable to you and not your general patrol person. “I try to volunteer. If I hear something and it sounds like maybe we can be of some use, I’ll volunteer to go.”
Funding to create a new Family Resource Centre in Moose Jaw Early Years Family and Resource Centres offer a range of supports for families with young children, and Moose Jaw will be opening a new centre in 2019. By Larissa Kurz
Seven communities will be receiving funding to open a new Early Years Family and Resource Centre in their area, and Moose Jaw is on that list — alongside Prince Albert, Saskatoon, the Battlefords, Nipawin, Meadow Lake, and one community in the North. Deputy Premier and Education Minister Gord Wyant announced $1.5 million in funding for the project, provided through the Canada-Saskatchewan Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. This type of centre offers information, services, and supports to help families with young children raise their kids in a positive environment. The new centres will be developed in partnership with KidsFirst, a program that offers family support and early learn-
Family hands: (Shutterstock)
ing and child care opportunities to families, and are planned to open in the fall of 2019. KidsFirst currently has programs running at the Strong Start Family Centre in Moose Jaw, located
at the YMCA. Krista Horton, Transitions Leader for Primary Health Care Teams at Strong Start Family Centre, said they are very excited to be receiving funds for this development, as they have been working very hard to develop programs in Moose Jaw of this kind. “We’ve seen the power a family resource centre can have in a community, and we’ve been working towards building them in Moose Jaw, and there’s a lot of potential here in Moose Jaw,” said Horton. This announcement comes on the heels of an announcement of 128 new licensed daycare spots in the province, offering another avenue of support to families with young children.