Behind the Badge: Darrell Scott

September 5, 2025

Entering his 25th year as a Detector Dog Handler at Collins Bay Institution, Darrell Scott still believes he has one of the best jobs there is.

“Not too many people can say they get to come and play with a dog every day for work,” he says.

It’s more than just play, though. Detector Dogs and handlers like Darrell play a crucial role in detecting, preventing, and removing contraband from Correctional Service Canada (CSC) institutions.

“It's work to us. Those dogs just jump out because every time they get to come out, they get to play.”

Darrell started with CSC as a Correctional Officer at Millhaven Institution. After a few years, he heard about the upcoming launch of the Detector Dog Program. As an animal lover, he jumped at the chance and became part of the second-ever cohort of handlers in Ontario.

“I thought it was an awesome opportunity to put something forward— to help the institution and help my fellow staff— where I'd be having an ability daily to help search and make the jail that much safer,” he says.

For Darrell, keeping contraband out doesn’t just protect the staff, but also makes institutions safer and healthier places for offenders, allowing them to follow their correctional plans and rehabilitate.

“It certainly is rewarding when we do find stuff and we take that out of the [institutional] system. I think that it's healthy for everybody.”

Darrell has worked with four different dogs throughout his time at CSC. His current dog, a black Labrador named Jaxx, is trained to detect narcotics, firearms and ammunition. Darrell is also responsible for caring for the dogs he works with—a role that adds responsibility but is incredibly rewarding.

While the job comes with heavy responsibilities, Darrell says the satisfaction of making the institutions safe, and the joy the dogs have in their work, are deeply meaningful.

“With my first three dogs I was able to keep them in their retirement until the day they went to rest. I found it such an honour to be able to have these dogs after their retirement and just let them be dogs,” he says. “And I guess the greatest honour I have had with those dogs was to have the ability to be beside them and comfort them when it was time for them to be placed at rest.”

To learn more about the role of Detector Dog Handlers, listen to the Prisons Inside / Out episode, Preventing and detecting contraband.