News release

Sharpening their sniffing skills

June 25, 2025 - Vernon, British Columbia
From: Vernon North Okanagan RCMP

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The Vernon North Okanagan RCMP is sending out a friendly heads up to residents that our police dogs and their handlers regularly conduct training exercises in neighbourhoods throughout the city. These training sessions are an essential part of maintaining a high level of skill and readiness needed for real-life policing scenarios.

During these exercises, residents may notice uniformed officers, typically in green, working along side their canine partners in neighbourhoods, parks, alleys, trails, and along roads.

They train where they work, and that means using real environments to prepare for real situations, states Constable Chris Terleski, Media Relations Officer for the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP. These sessions involve tracking practice, article searches, and other drills and it’s not unusual for the teams to move across properties or through yards. They do their best to minimize interactions with the public and avoid areas where pets are outside or people are gathered, but we just wanted to send this reminder out so we can hopefully avoid catching people off guard.

Police Dog handlers are dressed differently than our general duty RCMP members. Police dog handlers wear an all green uniform and will have Police marked on their front and back. The difference in uniforms are functional and specific to the work they do with their canine partners.

We appreciate the public’s understanding and support as our teams continue to train, adds Terleski. If you see them out and about, know they’re working hard to stay sharp and ready to keep our communities safe.

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