Justin, Detector Dog Handler

The Service. For Canada.

My name is Justin. I'm one of the K9 handlers here at Pacific Institution. This is my canine partner Dawson.

We're one of three teams here at P.I. and what we do mostly in our role is preventative security intelligence, so we're tasked with making sure that narcotics aren't being introduced into jails and if they are, to try to track them down and find where they are and get them out of our institutions.

Justin and Dawson

• CSC Dog Handler
• Helping eliminate contraband in the institution
• Keeping the country safe

A typical day for us looks like you know, we search a lot of mail that comes in for all the offenders, so we make sure that's clear and safe. We have the Regional Reception and Assessment Centre here so we have a lot of intakes from the Sheriff's Department that get brought in so we're frequently searching new intakes for the jail as well, new offenders that come through. And then we also have visits, outside visitors come to visit their loved ones that are incarcerated in jail and we search those people that come to visit those offenders as well.

When we're searching, I'm watching Dawson's behaviour and his behaviour will change according to what scents he's picking up. What we're trained to detect for is narcotics, firearms and ammunition. That's the profile that he has been trained to alert to. So, I'm looking for behaviour changes from Dawson to tell me whether we're in an area that may have drugs and to let him investigate further and hopefully he can end up pinpointing a location where those drugs are for me. That's the perfect scenario.

I have a love for dogs for sure. I love working with animals.

Dawson and I are together all the time 24-7. Care and maintenance of the dog is a huge part of my role. When he eats, I eat and when he plays, I get to play and when I work, he works. It's a big commitment. But the relationship that I have with him is fantastic.

Dawson's my best buddy. He's the happiest partner I'll ever have and it's really easy to go to work when you have a partner like that. You get to smile all the time.

Working inside of an institution is unique. It presents a lot of challenges. It's not always a positive environment, but you can try to make the best of it while you're here.

I would say that I have a lot of pride in my work. My work is important to me. I think it's important to a lot of people. It keeps people safe. It keeps me safe. It keeps our staff safe. It keeps our jails safe and our country safe. It's an important role that I try to take seriously.