Northamptonshire Police dog nicknamed 'The Bear' retires with 180 arrests to his name during seven-year career

Police Dog Olly has retired from active service after joining Northamptonshire Police in August 2017.

During his seven-year career, PD Olly has made 180 arrests and qualified as a firearms support dog in August 2018.

The eight-and-a-half-year-old German Shepard, who was nicknamed ‘The Bear’ due to his impressive size, has been with his handler PC Samantha Clark since May 2017 when they began a 13-week general purpose police dog course.

PC Clark said: “My first impression of Olly was that he was a big dog with a real presence about him. He showed a lot of potential from the start and we have developed into a formidable team together.

“Olly’s reputation is well-known across the force and beyond, he knows when he is at work and commands the respect of everyone who works alongside him.”

His handler credits Olly’s nose as his best asset, helping him secure numerous arrests and successful tracks.

She said: “He knows the smell of a criminal and his best game is hide and seek. On one job, after all else had failed and after an hour of searching, his nose began to twitch and he led me to a wanted suspect just by wind scenting him.”

This success secured the pair the 2022 Dog Deployment of the Year from the force, and Olly has also put his nose to work in finding 24 missing people, including a seriously injured man whose life he saved in 2020 after finding him collapsed in thick undergrowth.

PC Clark added: “Right from Olly’s first straight chase when he secured his first running suspect, he’s never let me down, whether that’s in detaining offenders or locating key evidence, such as a track in 2019 when he not only helped to find five suspects in an attempted murder but also the knife used.

“He gives his all in every situation, even when things get challenging – he doesn’t appreciate slippy floors which we have worked around with the use of protective boots. When we needed to do a training scenario without them involving a simulated handler attack, he came barrelling through for me, biting straight through the protective sleeve – he’s not a dog to be messed with!”

Although hanging Olly’s collar number up for the final time will be emotional, PC Clark has no doubts he will happily adjust to life as a much-loved pet.

She said: “Olly will live in a pack with my four other dogs and we will be making sure he gets to do all his favourite things like swimming. I’m looking forward to taking him to the beach for the day too.

“PD Olly is a legend. As a handler, to work a police dog of Olly’s calibre is an honour; a dog like him only comes around once in a blue moon.

“He was born to be a police dog and the thin blue line has got thinner on his retirement. We have been on one hell of a journey together and I’m so proud to have had him by my side.”

PC Clark is set to continue her handler work with digi dog PD Rosie.