Detective Constable (D/Cst.) Hannah Elkington has just made history. Having served as a Police Constable for seven years, Elkington now has the distinction of being the first woman to join the DRPS K-9 Unit.
D/Cst. Elkington joined DRPS in 2010 as a Youth in Policing Student. For the next four years she remained in the program, running several initiatives as the program coordinator. In 2014, she was hired by York Regional Police Service, but returned to DRPS as an experienced officer in 2016.
She knew very early in her career that she wanted to become a K-9 handler. Having grown up with dogs, first for security purposes when she and her family were living in South Africa and then as family pets after immigrating to Canada, Elkington became fascinated with training dogs. This passion drove her interest in police canine work.
Over the past five years, D/Cst. Elkington took advantage of every opportunity to be around DRPS’ eight K-9 handlers, knowing that if she wanted a shot at the next opening, she would have to dedicate herself to becoming the best possible applicant. Recognizing D/Cst. Elkington’s passion and desire to learn, DRPS’ K-9 handlers provided her with encouragement, mentorship and development opportunities.
She regularly used her vacation or days off-duty to train with the unit. On the unit’s monthly training days, she volunteered to learn to layout training tracks and act as a decoy for the Police Service Dogs (PSDs).
When several of the handlers got new PSDs, Elkington participated in their basic police dog courses to deepen her knowledge base and understanding of how PSDs are trained. Half of the nearly 1,000 hours of training she completed before being awarded the position were completed off-duty, through volunteer hours.
In 2018, she attended the Canadian Police Canine Association Seminar and took the K-9 Bite DR Course. She also attended several decoying seminars through Grassroots K-9, a Canadian business that breeds, imports and trains police dogs. She even fostered one of their prospective police dog’s for several months to develop her training and handling skills. That dog is now with Peterborough Police Service as a gun-detection dog. In November of 2019, she spent a month training and patrolling with K-9 Anti-Poaching Units in South Africa and Zimbabwe in an effort to hone her handling skills.
For D/Cst. Elkington, pursuing her dream of becoming a K-9 Handler has been about discipline, hard work, and dedication. “It’s been about commitment to the small daily choices and never settling; always chasing that one per cent improvement,” explains Elkington.
Her countless hours of training and dedication paid off when her dream was realized at a recent graduation ceremony where her PSD Kaos received his badge from Chief Rollauer. PSD Kaos is a one-year-old Belgian Malinois who was bred in New Jersey and imported to Canada by Grassroots K-9. PSD Kaos completed 60 days of intensive training and is trained in tracking, criminal apprehension, handler protection and evidence detection.
D/Cst. Elkington and PSD Kaos have already made an impact by successfully tracking a wanted party who was hiding from officers and locating a missing vulnerable person in distress.
“One of the aspects I love most about being a K-9 handler is the endless opportunity for growth. There will always be new concepts for my dog and I to learn and ways that we can develop as a team. K-9 handlers are some of the hardest working, most stubbornly dedicated people you will ever meet. They are always willing to go that extra mile or search a little bit longer; that’s something I am very proud to be a part of,” explains Elkington. “The K-9 unit supports the efforts of our front-line members. Our PSDs are a tool that augments their ability to police and successfully resolve incidents. No one works harder than our front-line officers and being a K-9 handler means I get to directly support that work.”
For anyone looking to pursue a dream in policing or elsewhere, Cst. Elkington says to “Be patient and stay focused. Find mentors who are willing to challenge you. Seek out people who are where you want to be. People who are passionate about what they do want to see others succeed. Look for those people, ask questions, learn from them. Remember it’s OK to fail, as long as it drives you toward growth. Don’t be afraid to fail, be afraid to stop growing.”
Congratulations D/Cst. Elkington and welcome to DRPS PSD Kaos.