By Leah Murray

Youngest member of MHPS passes drug detection testing

Mar 16, 2018 | 3:07 PM

MEDICINE HAT – At less than three years old, he’s the youngest member of the Medicine Hat Police Service and is about to become a key player in drug busts.

Police Service Dog Astor received his drug detection certification Friday afternoon in Calgary.

“We’re just excited to pass certification and to be heading out on the streets and get out there and find some drugs,” said Astor’s handler and partner Constable Jason Ross.

PSD Astor is training for his drug detection certification. So far he’s doing pretty great! #medhat @MHPSK9Team pic.twitter.com/Y8FfdOB4Nt

— CHAT-TV Leah Murray (@CHATTV_LMurray) March 15, 2018

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The pair have been training for the past three weeks leading up to the test. Astor can now pinpoint the location of several illicit narcotics.

“The drugs that we have are cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and MDMA,” said Ross.

The narcotics are all provided by Health Canada and have been tested to ensure they are the drugs they are training for.

Potency varies to ensure the dogs are able to detect both small and large amounts of a drug.

Drug activity has been steadily increasing in Medicine Hat over the past few years.

Between police and ALERT, 3.5 kilograms of meth was taken off the streets in 2017. That more than doubled from the 1.5 kilograms seized in 2016, and is significantly higher than the 300 grams in 2015.

Police say having the dogs certified to detect drugs is a huge asset.

“With the certification stamp we can now use the dog’s findings in court if it’s necessary or we can use the dog’s findings to gain grounds for an arrest, or to assist in obtaining a search warrant,” said Sargent Clarke White. “It just adds credibility to the training.”

With his test complete, Astor will be ready to sniff out the next drug bust.

Congrats to Cst Ross and PSD Astor for passing their drug detection certification today. They’ll be hitting the streets this weekend putting their new skills to use. pic.twitter.com/JTNDq9Bvyj

— MHPS K9 Team (@MHPSK9Team) March 16, 2018