Training Update

 Our February training weekend has just been completed. We welcomed a number of new students this month, went on a night navigation session, completed an annual re-assessment, continued with cadaver land, cadaver water, live person air scenting, collapsed buildings/confined spaces search work and had fruitful meetings to discuss the introduction of a K9 Search Support Operations certificate with Ian Plater.

More information will be published on this course in the coming weeks once we have had NASDU approval. 

Ryan Gray was also presented with his Level 3 Certificate for Live Person (Air Scenting).

Here are some photos from the last session.

Our December training weekend in the Penmaenmawr area has just finished which resulted in two dog and handler teams successfully completing final assessments.

Firstly, Ryan and Search Dog Max from Northern Ireland (who was featured in our news section in October) passed their final assessment for the Level 3 Live Person (air scenting) qualification. For their final assessment Ryan and Max were required to search an area of 25 acres and located two "missing persons/bodies" within an allotted time frame.

Our second successful pair were Lizzie and Bailey who passed their Level 3 Cadaver Detection (Land) qualification. Lizzie and Bailey were required to conduct an open area search as well as grid search to locate their target.

Our other attendees were involved in Continuous Training (CT) which they undertake on a monthly basis on order to keep their skills and knowledge up to date in preparation for annual reassessments.

See photos from the weekend and for further information on training  please check our downloads section or send us an email.

Business innovation event @ Leicester Innovation hub

30th November 2018

University of Leicester, United Kingdom

Forensics Connect was established in 2017 with its core element to bring together forensic experts in a wide range of specialisms. The fundamentals of the company were to explore and understand forensic taphonomy and in turn the post mortem interval (PMI) using forensic chemistry in ways that had not been utilised before. The company also aimed to dispel the misconceptions and limited understanding that was had when hearing of forensic taphonomy and how it related to investigations in a huge array of contexts and situations. Coupled with this, the methods of searching and locating deceased, or remains, from a wide variety of contexts using multiple techniques and specialists aided by forensic chemistry was also looked at so at to optimise an investigation.

This event showcased the many consultants that forensics connect has access to, one in particular is UK-K9. This partnership investigates the three elements that forms the company: research, consultancy and training. Our researchers at the University of Leicester are looking at the chemical composition of human remains, to establish a better understanding as to what is being detected. The training and consultancy aspects of this alliance relates to crime scene investigation, and how we improve forensic practitioner knowledge to better understand the process of human decay as well as provide a high quality service of forensic science. 

On Tuesday 30th October Ryan and his dog Max was requested to assist in the search for a missing female in the Bangor (Northern Ireland) area who had been missing since Monday morning, 29th October.  

This is Max’s first find and although not qualified yet, he is a great asset for getting loved ones home.

Ryan and Max are currently undergoing training with our senior instructor David Jones in Penmaenmawr and we at UK-K9 Training for Excellence are delighted with this news and look forward to congratulating the pair at our next training weekend in North Wales in November. 

3 representatives from the Spanish Armed Forces Reservists visited us in North Wales earlier this month. We had  very productive meetings to discuss future planned work as well as giving the team a  whistle stop tour of North Wales. David Jones was also presented with a certificate confirming his position as honorary Captain to enable him to train members of the Armed Forces Reservists in Spain.

Dave Jones had an excellent visit last week to our partners in Spain. All of us at UK-K9 are looking forward to this new challenge probably one of the most exciting projects we are about to undertake.