Top team: Northland police detector dog duo Senior Constable Patrick Derbyshire and Ripper feature in the 2025 police dog calendar. Photo / S Curtis
Top team: Northland police detector dog duo Senior Constable Patrick Derbyshire and Ripper feature in the 2025 police dog calendar. Photo / S Curtis
With a name like Ripper, you might expect a police dog to be one of those scary-looking German shepherds that chase down unrelenting troublemakers.
However, Northland’s police detector dog Ripper defies her name. A loveable black Labrador and small for her breed, Ripper is far likelier to smother someone in kisses and bad doggie breath than do any harm, her handler Senior Constable Patrick Derbyshire says.
Working together for the past three years, Derbyshire and Ripper have become a formidable force within Northland’s police force.
Their work doesn’t involve physically chasing criminals but the mental challenge of catching them out when they have hidden stuff that could incriminate them.
Ripper’s trained to find a wide range of items and can do so quickly - even in the dark. She’s found firearms hidden in walls, under houses; spent and unused ammunition, cash - even hidden in a freezer, and various illicit drugs. Many of Northland’s repeat offenders know they may as well just “give up the game” when Ripper arrives on a scene, Derbyshire says.
So good are the pair, that in 2023 they were recognised as the nation’s best detector dog duo when they competed at the national championships, fending off competition from other police sniffer dog teams, Corrections, and Customs.
Northland's senior constable Patrick Derbyshire and his partner Ripper after winning the 2023 National Detector Dog Champs in Trentham. Photos / supplied
This year Ripper’s success has also stemmed to the prestigious honour of being selected along with another Northland police dog, Jock, for the 2025 NZ Police Dog Charitable Trust calendar. The calendars, which come with an A3 poster of police dogs, are available at this link for $20.
Jock - who features on the cover of the calendar - was on a job being one of those scary-looking German shepherds when the Advocate visited Whangārei Police Station last week. However, Ripper was there wearing reindeer ears and collecting affection from all her adoring two-legged colleagues.
A proud Derbyshire was happy to share some of his and Ripper’s recent achievements.
Derbyshire said it took them just one minute to locate a firearm dumped by an offender in dense bush near North Cape - a job that could have taken days of work for a team of human constables. And, Ripper did it all for just her usual reward - a play with her favourite red ball.
This image of Northland sniffer dog Ripper enjoying some time out from her usual police duties, features in the 2025 Police Dog Charitable Trust calendar. Photo / Sergeant Jane Dunn
Last week, at her yearly validation testing in Auckland, Ripper impressed the assessors by sniffing out ephedrine (a precursor substance used in the manufacture of meth’), which she hadn’t come into contact with since a training session three years ago.
If trained to recognise a particular smell, a good detector dog will remember it for life, Derbyshire says.
Bred in Wellington and soon to turn 6, Ripper is the only police dog in Northland capable of sniffing out such a wide range of items and one of only 10 such police dogs nationally.
German shepherd Jock - another prized member of Northland's canine policing unit - graces the cover of the 2025 police dog calendar. Photo / Sergeant Jane Dunn
So skilled is Northland’s little Labrador that sometimes she sniffs out evidence she’s not trained to find. During a recent search of a river bank, Ripper found a cell phone abandoned by an offender - an offender who must have smoked cannabis, Derbyshire says.
With her lovable, quiet nature, Ripper was always destined to have a special place in the community. If Ripper hadn’t worked out as a detector dog, she would have made an excellent therapy dog, Derbyshire says.
She was a puppy in Christchurch when the mosque massacres happened in 2019. Police staff who remember Ripper from back then have told Derbyshire how much they appreciated Ripper’s presence and the comfort she brought during such a traumatic time.
Ripper also endears herself to children. Even those normally frightened of dogs are relaxed around her, Derbyshire says. The pair make numerous educational visits to schools and early childhood centres. Ripper was also a big hit with crowds at this year’s A&P Show in Whangārei.
Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, much of which she spent court reporting. She is passionate about covering stories that make a difference
