Police warns against charging fees for sniffer dogs 

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Police warned all territorial commanders against charging victims of crime, and fees for sniffer dog services.

According to police spokesperson, Fred Enanga, it came to their attention that some sniffer dog handlers have been asking for transport and other fees from victims of theft and related offences, before bringing the dogs to the scenes of crime.

He says this is wrong because the movement of sniffer dogs to the crime scene is supposed to be free of charge.

“The movement of sniffer dogs to scenes of crime is free of charge. There’s been a tendency or bad habit whereby you find the dog handlers would move on their own in private vehicles which are hired by the people who are victimized through robberies, burglaries and other related offences and would end up paying very exorbitant prices for hiring vehicles at expensively to transport the dog handler and the dog to the scene of the crime,” Enanga said.

Enanga reminded the territorial commanders that it is their job to oversee the movements of the dog handlers and the dogs to the crime scenes rather than putting the costs on victims.