On October 22nd, the sixth National Police Dog Skills Competition concluded successfully in Beijing, showcasing an impressive display of talent and teamwork. A total of 255 trainers and their 219 police dogs from 38 teams representing various public security departments across the nation, including the Ministry of Public Security and the National Immigration Administration, competed fiercely for top honors. Ultimately, teams from Beijing, the Capital Airport Public Security Bureau, and Shandong secured the first, second, and third places in the group category.
To deepen the implementation of directives from the Ministry of Public Security regarding police dog operations, the Criminal Investigation Bureau organizes this nationwide competition every four years. The aim is to standardize, professionalize, and enhance the practical application of police dog functions, thereby improving their operational effectiveness in real-life situations.
This year’s event marked a record high in terms of the number of participants, dogs, and competition categories. The competition format emphasizes real-world relevance, featuring six practical individual events, including tracking, suspect apprehension, drug detection, bomb searching, bloodstain searches, and evidence retrieval, alongside assessments for onsite investigation and analysis. Notably, a new wilderness search category was introduced, simulating crime scenes in outdoor settings, while drug and bomb search events utilized double-blind testing methods to rigorously assess the capabilities of teams and their dogs in real-life scenarios.
The event included both team and individual competitions. In the team event, the Beijing team, the Capital Airport Public Security Bureau team, and the Shandong team took home the top three spots. Individually, Huang Cheng from the Zhejiang team excelled in tracking, while Song Zheng from the Beijing team achieved first place in evidence retrieval. Li Suwei from Yunnan led in suspect apprehension, Yu Shiyong from Jiangsu triumphed in bloodstain searches, Yuan Yuanyuan from the Ministry of Public Security Special Operations team excelled in bomb searching, and Bai Xiaojun from Shaanxi won in drug detection.
During the event’s demonstration exercises, eight units, including the Ministry of Public Security’s Kunming and Nanchang Police Dog Bases, along with public security agencies from various provinces and the National Immigration Administration, presented meticulously arranged drills tailored to practical needs. These showcased police dog obedience, tactical team operations, collaborations between humans and dogs, and the use of robotic dogs, highlighting the vital roles dogs play in crime investigation, patrol, smuggling detection, and search and rescue missions. A particular highlight was the debut of various domestically bred police dog breeds adapted to specific environments, such as the high-temperature and humidity-resistant “Taicang Dog,” the mountain terrain-suited “Guangxi Mountain Dog,” and the high-altitude “Tibet Linzhi Hound,” reflecting significant advancements in domestically bred police dog capabilities.