Every clichéd dog name in the book you can think of, Queensland Police Service (QPS) wants to hear it. As long as it begins with a W.
That might be a disappointment if you were thinking of Inspector Rex, Jerry Lee or even Hooch, but it’s all part of the QPS’s naming protocol.
The QPS is offering the opportunity to the public to come up with names for a new litter of seven German Shepherd puppies that are set to be recruited into the police force.
Man’s best friend has been an ongoing staple in law enforcement where officers bond with their canine comrades like they would with a human partner. Frequently, police officers on the field take the initiative to name their furry pal themselves.
It might sound like a barking mad idea to ask the public to get creative in naming police puppies. But it’s part of an initiative to “shine a light on the vital role police dogs and their handlers play in keeping Queenslanders safe”.
The government takes pride in its general purpose dogs that are responsible for the tracking and apprehension of hundreds of offenders across the state.
They also play a significant role as detection dogs by sniffing out criminals dealing in illicit drugs.
The five girls and two boys were born as part of a QPS breeding program, where each litter of new puppies is given a letter to distinguish them from the others.
This particular litter has been designated the letter W, and as a result their names a required to begin with a W.
Queensland Police Minister Jo-Ann Miller said has asked people to “put forward their best suggestions”.
Ms Miller said that once the puppies are named, they will undergo training over the next few months.
“Forget your typical puppy pre-school, these little ones are destined to become general purpose or drug detection dogs – so they need special training,” Ms Miller said.
There are 89 police dogs presently working under the QPS, and Assistant Commissioner Alistair Dawson is hopeful that the new litter will join their crime-fighting canine peers.
“We currently have 14 drug detection, five explosive ordnance and firearm detection dogs and one specialist cadaver dog,” Mr Dawson said.
Mr Dawson said these seven puppies could “bolster the 69 current general purpose police dogs”.
