The following is an article from the York Evening Press:
PLANS to merge North Yorkshire Police's dog section with units from two other forces could present a risk to officers and a reduced service.
The announcement was made this week that the force's dog section would be merged with the units from Cleveland Police and Durham Constabulary next summer, with an aim to cut costs by more than £3m over the next five years.
A North Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said the number of police dogs, such as PD Thor whose successes have been featured in The Press previously, fluctuates due to fitness, training and retirement, and "at this point it is not known whether or not any police dogs will need to be redeployed or re-homed as a result of the merger proposal. If that were to happen, the change in numbers would be very small".
Bases will be set up for dog handlers in Harrogate, York, Northallerton and Ryedale, which will allow dog units to better reach rural areas, and could give each force access to more dogs per shift.
Chief Constable Dave Jones said the change was "simply common sense", and would "give us more officers and dogs available for deployment", but Sergeant Mike Stubbs, chairman of the North Yorkshire Police Federation which represents rank and file police officers, said he wanted to see more evidence that the merger would increase coverage in rural areas, and believed the changes could cause a risk to officers through extended working hours.
Sgt Stubbs said: "The simple fact is that there are going to be fewer North Yorkshire dog handlers available to track criminals and deploy to public order incidents. I am not aware that Durham or Cleveland have overcapacity in their dog sections, such that they will be able to replace what is being lost. The likelihood is that, when incidents arise, they will be committed in their own force area in any case.
"We also have serious concerns about the move to 12 hour shifts. North Yorkshire is a very different environment to Cleveland or Durham - our dog handlers have to cover a massive area. Is it right they should be expected to do a blue light emergency run on demanding roads towards the end of a 12 hour shift, having already driven many miles across the county in the course of their shift. There are laws and limits for commercial drivers to protect against the effects of driver fatigue which the police enforce. It defies common sense that those principles are being ignored for drivers of police vehicles."
Source: York Evening Press
