THE shrewd and speedy response of a policeman and his dog led to the recovery of suspected stolen property and the arrests of two suspects within minutes of a burglary at Clyst St Mary.
Police dog handler PC Darryl Drew from Pinhoe, and his loyal canine companion of six-and-a-half years, Murphy were tasked to track down two men suspected of burgling a house at Winslade Park after a neighbour rang 999 having seen them running away.
Within minutes of the incident at around 10.30pm on Monday, June 30, PC Drew and Murphy spotted a pair of young men matching the description of those running away from the scene, at Sandygate roundabout.
When the suspects became lost from view in the car park of Moto Services, Murphy picked up their scent and with PC Drew in tow, caught up with them within about a minute-and-a-half.
"After I spotted them, by the time I'd looped round the roundabout they'd disappeared," recalled PC Drew. "But Murphy picked up their scent straight away and tracked them around the services car park before locating them, at which point we chased after them and I challenged them."
A tablet computer, subsequently linked to the burglary, which was discarded nearby was located while the suspects were handcuffed.
Murphy, now eight years old, is due to retire soon so his replacement Beau joined PC Drew's household in January when she was around eight weeks old.
Murphy is a general purposes police dog which means he can be tasked for cash, drugs or fire arms protection as well as public order protection.
PC Drew explained that police dogs are responsible for around 30 "arrests" or "prisoners" a year which would otherwise not have been caught.
He confirmed that the handlers utilise their dogs around three times per shift, but letting them off the lead and being "sent to detain" is used as a last resort in the face of violence or resistance.
In his six-and-a-half years with PC Drew, Murphy has dealt with around 12 incidents of this nature.
"Murphy knew exactly what to do, he was absolutely brilliant," added PC Drew.
A 22-year-old man and a 17-year-old man have been arrested on suspicion of burglary and possession of cannabis.
