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Cold Lake ready for PDS unit

The City of Cold Lake is ready for an RCMP Police Dog Service (PDS) in their community; all they need now is a member, a dog, and approval to accelerate the program.

The City of Cold Lake is ready for an RCMP Police Dog Service (PDS) in their community; all they need now is a member, a dog, and approval to accelerate the program.

On Friday, July 14, city council hosted a special meeting to discuss sending a letter to the federal government requesting that their PDS come sooner rather than later.

Originally, the service was slated to start in Cold Lake in 2018. However, CAO Kevin Nagoya explained that there is a RCMP member ready to graduate from PDS training in the fall. Should the city be successful in their application to accelerate the process, they could see the service start as soon as December.

"I think having the dog in our area is going to be important for policing... Once the dog is called it will be right here instead of having to wait one or two hours for it to come into the community," said Mayor Craig Copeland.

The PDS Unit will be used for missing person cases, tracking criminals, searching for narcotics and explosives, crime scene evidence, police/community relations, and search and rescue.

Not only will it benefit the local RCMP detachment, but also those in the surrounding area, Copeland noted.

"It's not just about Cold Lake, this is going to help the greater region."

The unit will be housed at the Cold Lake detachment and funded by the City of Cold Lake. Currently, the closest PDS unit is in St. Paul, and is not always available to assist the local members.

Should it be implemented this year, it may or may not have budget implications. That will be determined by when the member would become available.

"We've been talking about having a PDS in our community for a few years now. We discussed it during the budget deliberations that if we could get a dog fast, that was council's priority," Copeland said. "We're just happy to make it happen. I we can get an officer and a dog in before Christmas, that'd be great."

Council will be sending a letter to the federal government notifying them that they are ready for the PDS unit to come to the community.

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