[Photo: Supplied]

The Fiji Police Force sent its biggest training contingent to the New Zealand Police Dog Training Centre in Trentham, Wellington yesterday.

Commissioner of Police, Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho says this training is important not only for the existing partnership between Fiji and New Zealand, but on the impact it will have on operational outputs.

Qiliho says the Force’s K9 capabilities are one of the most sought after due to its operational effectiveness.

He states the Government in recognizing this has also invested close to $700,000 for the new K9 facility which is under construction.

The training of a patrol dog is based on a six-stage development and qualification process that starts when the dogs are puppies and ends when they graduate at 18 months of age

The Commissioner says while the NZ Police caters for the technical training of officers and supply of dogs, the Fiji Police through Government has committed to upgrading current facilities to cater for the new pups to be brought in December.

In addition to the two officers who departed for the training program two-weeks ago, another seven officers including a Fiji Revenue and Customs Service officer flew out of the country yesterday.