It’s safe to say that the RCMP doesn’t have many members who are five years old, but one active member celebrated her fifth birthday on Jan. 9 with a special treat.
Neeka is a crime-fighting pooch who was born on Jan. 9, 2020. She joined the Kamloops RCMP team in late 2021, after she graduated from the Police Dog Service Training Centre in Innisfail, Alberta.
Neeka is possibly the most recognizable RCMP member in town. Sporting a pure black coat and a quiet, calm demeanour, Neeka is a member of both the Kamloops detachment and the Southeast District Emergency Response Team.
Neeka’s handler — Cpl. Stephen Prior of the Police Dog Service — says that she is easy to get along with. She has been extra busy of late, keeping the people of Kamloops safe: it’s estimated that Neeka attended more than 100 calls for the Emergency Response Team alone in 2024.
She started 2025 off with a bang: during her last weekend as a four-year-old Neeka was hard at work assisting members of the Crime Reduction Team with the arrests of two suspects in a stolen vehicle investigation; tracking down a bicycle-riding property thief in Brock; and locating an assault suspect who was taken into custody without incident.
On Jan. 9, Neeka spent the day relaxing and enjoying a special bagel with cream cheese: one of her favourite treats.
She was one of the dogs named in the RCMP’s Police Dog Training Service 2020 “Name the Puppy” contest, in which children from across Canada are invited to help find names for future police dogs. The 2025 contest will be launching soon, and kids will be asked to provide suggested names beginning with the letter “A”.
The RCMP has utilized police dogs since 1935, and started a formal breeding program in 1999. They use only purebred German Shepherds, whose versatility, strength, and courage makes them well-suited to police work. About 50 per cent of the puppies born at the Innisfail centre will become working dogs: if not for the RCMP, then for other agencies, such as domestic and international law enforcement agencies or for search and rescue organizations.
Successful candidates begin their formal training between the ages of 14 and 18 months, and RCMP dogs usually retire when they are 7 or 8 years old. The handler may keep the police service dog as a pet when it retires.
