Explosives Detection Dogs … Capability or Liability?
Explosives detection dog (EDD) capability can be a valuable part of the security mix to protect a wide range of sites, premises and events. A specialist from the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA), the UK’s technical authority on protective security, outlines how this can be implemented.
As with all security measures, it is essential to ensure effective specification, implementation and assurance of EDD capability. Assuring detection dog capability is complicated, and to that end NPSA has worked with the Home Office and National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) to establish the National Canine Training and Accreditation Scheme – Private Security Industry (NCTAS-P).
If you use explosives detection dogs as part of the security mix at your site, premises or event, can you afford not to use teams that are NCTAS-P accredited?
Why dogs?
Not just a human’s best friend, but also a very useful one: dogs are renowned for having a phenomenal sense of smell and have long been recognised as offering a highly sensitive capability to detect odours across security applications and beyond.
Dogs can be very versatile. Not only can they be trained to detect a wide variety of odours of interest, but they can also be trained quickly on new ones. They can be trained to search effectively in different scenarios and environments as well. And unlike many security technologies, they can quickly and easily be transported from one deployment to another.
For many people, a security dog will be a reassuring presence, whilst also being a powerful deterrent to those with malign intent (a geared effect, as it may not be obvious what the dog is trained to detect).
Detractors may point to potential challenges with the effective use of detection dogs. In practice, comparable challenges typically apply to the use of detection and other security technologies, not least as deployment of both dogs and technologies involves humans as handlers or operators. The key here is to understand the limitations and challenges in each case and manage them accordingly.
The explosives threat involves a range of materials with very different odours and emitting very different levels of odour. Therefore, explosives detection dogs must be trained on a carefully curated selection of materials, quantities and concealments.
Given that many explosives have very low-level odours, there is a risk that needs carefully managing, i.e. dogs may inadvertently be trained on odours associated with packaging, storage or handling. There is guidance on this and many other aspects of optimising detection dog training and operational capability.
Not unlike humans, our canine friends can get tired, may be under the weather, or may feel like gaming the system. And like us, they are reward-motivated (typically, play with a tennis ball!). So how can they maximise play for minimum effort? Well, this is where the handler has a crucial part to play, from tasking and monitoring the dog as it searches, through to ensuring it has the right rest breaks when needed.
Key to this is the handler really understanding their dog and being able to spot, read and act on subtle cues in its behaviour. It is therefore important that a dog is always worked by the same handler.
But there are other more subtle considerations. With explosives threats fortunately a rare occurrence in the UK, an explosives detection dog will regularly find trained odours during training sessions but may never find one for real. Evidence from scientific studies shows that if the dog can distinguish between the training and operational environments (potential cues could include location, handler behaviours, or presence of an instructor), their search and detection effectiveness can decrease in the operational environment. With that in mind, there is a variety of effective mitigations.
Explosives detection dog teams have long been an important part of counter-terrorism policing and wider law enforcement capability in the UK. But there are also many potential private sector applications spanning protection of sites, premises and events.
An important part of NPSA’s remit as the national technical authority for protective security is to ensure that a palette of proportionate and effective protective security measures is available to those responsible for security of sites, premises and events.
London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics – a case study
NPSA (in its previous incarnation as Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure, or CPNI) was heavily involved in advising government and private sector stakeholders on protective security for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.
Whilst the Games spanned a few weeks, the security effort spanned the many years over which planning, site construction and other preparations took place. A key risk that needed mitigating was the potential for a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) setting back Olympic Park construction.
This would have prevented the Games from opening on time. As part of the complex mix of security measures, there was a requirement for some sort of explosives detection capability to screen the vast number of complex and varied delivery vehicles entering the construction site.
This is where the concepts of ‘proportionate’ and ‘effective’ apply. Using technology or visual inspection to provide the necessary level of assurance wouldn’t have been proportionate – it would have been cost prohibitive, required much more space than was available, and would have imposed unacceptable delays to the just-in-time availability of construction materials.
Explosives detection dog (EDD) teams had the potential to offer a viable alternative, providing a rapid and flexible way of screening a wide variety of construction site vehicles. As with other aspects of site security, that was a private security matter falling clearly outside the remit of policing.
Whilst EDD teams were recognised as a good solution, there was a clear need to assure the effectiveness of the contracted EDD teams. In the absence of a government-recognised private sector assurance scheme, police specialists devised and implemented an internal process for assuring the contracted London 2012 EDD teams. This met the need as an expedient solution but was clearly not a scalable approach for the longer term and wider application.
There were a few instances during gaps between vehicle arrivals where these London 2012 EDD teams were deployed to screen the construction workers, and the dogs indicated the presence of explosives. No explosives, or explanation of possible explosives traces, were found on further investigation. Who knows what caused these indications, but one plausible explanation could be that the dogs involved might also have been trained at some point to detect other odours.
Clearly an indication by an explosives detection dog team must be taken seriously. So, whilst it’s obviously essential that an EDD team needs to be effective at detecting real threats, teams also need to be highly reliable at not indicating erroneously. It goes without saying that training needs to be effective, but a robust system of assurance is also essential.
Introducing NCTAS-P
Following several terrorist attacks in 2017, one of many options identified to enhance security at sites, premises and events was the possibility of a government-endorsed accreditation scheme for private sector EDD service providers.
The National Canine Training and Accreditation Scheme – Private Security Industry (NCTAS-P) was launched after detailed consideration by the Home Office, NaCTSO (as part of Counter Terrorism Policing), and NPSA, and engagement with a selection of private sector stakeholders. It was established in March 2021 in support of the government’s Counter Terrorism Strategy, CONTEST.
Its remit is to accredit private sector EDD teams. Crucially, it is the dog and handler that are accredited as a team. NCTAS-P does so by assuring explosives odour recognition and search capability (covering buildings, areas, routes and vehicles) to a comparable standard to that of police EDD teams. But it recognises that the role and remit of private sector teams is very different. In focusing on assuring odour recognition and search capability of EDD Teams, it complements the long-standing British Standard BS8517-2:2016 Security dogs – Code of practice for the use of detection dogs.
From an NPSA perspective, NCTAS-P offers multiple benefits. It enables providers of EDD services to differentiate their offer from suppliers of other security dog services and justify their investment in the required level of training. It enables users of EDD services to have confidence in the teams they hire – their odour recognition capability, search effectiveness, and an appropriate response to any indications.
And it provides reassurance to government and police stakeholders that a key tool in managing the threat of terrorist use of improvised explosive devices is effective. This includes the fact that at an operational level, an indication by a NCTAS-P EDD team should be taken seriously.
At the time of writing, 64 EDD Teams from ten suppliers, a mix of companies and individuals, hold NCTAS-P accreditation. The Department for Transport separately regulates private sector detection dog capability for specific transport security purposes.
Drugs, firearms and other detection dog disciplines
Aside from threats to national security, detection dog teams can also offer valuable capability for other applications within and beyond security. Whilst NCTAS-P is limited to accreditation of private sector explosives detection dog teams, many of the benefits and challenges of using detection dogs will be relevant to other applications, including the detection of drugs and firearms, and much of the guidance will also be applicable.
Guidance for users of Explosives Detection Dogs Services
Further information on the use of explosives detection dog capability is available on the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) website: www.npsa.gov.uk/canine-detection-0 which includes guidance to assist with specifying, procuring and implementing effective capability:
NPSA strongly recommends that any organisation or site using, or considering using, explosives detection dog services should only use Explosives Detection Dog (EDD) teams holding a current NCTAS-P accreditation.
A full list of EDD teams holding NCTAS-P accreditation is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/find-an-accredited-explosives-detection-dog-team.
Providers of detection dog services wanting more information about NCTAS-P (including how to register interest) visit: www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-canine-training-and-accreditation-scheme-private-security-industry.
Working with the Home Office, Department for Transport and Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, NPSA publishes a collection of guidance notes to help detection dog instructors and handlers understand how to optimise training and operational practice: www.npsa.gov.uk/canine-detection-guidance-notes
For further information visit:
www.npsa.gov.uk/canine-detection-0
