Police Dog Dies in Collision, Richmond, BC

This morning at around 1:30 a.m. a Police Dog Handler was responding to a report of a theft in progress near the Britannia Shipyards in Steveston. At Westminster Highway & No. 7 Road a collision occurred between the police vehicle & another vehicle on the road. At this time it appears that the police vehicle crossed over the road as a result of the collision & struck a hydro pole. At the time of the collision the emergency equipment on the police vehicle was activated.

Damage to the police vehicle was extensive however damage to the civilian vehicle involved was minimal. The occupants of the vehicles involved were treated at the scene by Emergency Health Services however there were no apparent injuries. Sadly, Police Service Dog Bo died at scene as a result of injuries sustained.

Cpl. Turley said “There are no words to describe how upsetting this is as we have lost a member of our police family. Police dogs receive regimental numbers just as every other sworn member of the RCMP & are heroes in every sense of the word. From finding missing children to locating discarded weapons at crime scenes to facing dangers head on to save the lives of their handlers. I don’t know how front line officers could do their jobs as well as they do if it wasn’t for our police dogs.”

Police dogs are treasured members of the RCMP family & devoted partners of the handlers they work with. The bond between police dogs & their handlers is one based on trust & understanding. “The handler is obviously upset”, said Staff Sergeant Ron Field of the Lower Mainland Police Dog Services. “Bo was his first dog & he’s lost his partner. It’s a tough thing.”

Police Service Dog Bo was two years old & was only about eight months into his career following five months of intense training with his handler at the RCMP’s Police Dog Service Training Facility in Innisfail, Alberta.

The Integrated Collision Analysis & Reconstruction Services are still on scene investigating the collision, piecing together exactly what occurred. Power to east Richmond has been affected in several areas & traffic has been rerouted on Westminster Highway between No. 6 & No. 8 Road. It is unknown how long traffic will be rerouted.