The Sarnia canine team has been busy since it was sworn in last summer.
Vader joined the Sarnia Police Service when he was 15-months-old and he was introduced in April 2024.
The Sarnia Police Service Board was told in an update last month that since August, Cst. Shawn Urban and Vader have been deployed to 71 canine specific deployments and Vader has been involved in 49 arrests.
This means he's been in the area, whether that's for a search warrant or a Major Case Action Team (MCAT) arrest.
Cst. Shawn Urban said one of the most difficult things at first was having to trust Vader.
"Being an officer for 25 years I'm used to certain things and there's been times where I thought the suspect would run this way and Vader sends me that way and lo and behold there's the suspect we're looking for," he said.
So far, Vader has been tracking suspects or missing people, building searches, area searches, vehicle searches and he can help find drugs, firearms and ammunition.
Urban said the time it takes to catch a suspect or to find evidence has been cut down.
"That's where all of the success comes from. We have our own dog, we're there in minutes. We can use our own people and get on the ground and start looking," he said. "When it comes to tracking human odour it dissipates, so the quicker you get on it the stronger it is and that's where you have your success."
He said Vader is learning quickly for a canine with his experience.
"The more he trains, the more he sees, the better he gets," said Urban. "You paint a picture for Vader and then he knows how to deal with those situations, so the more he sees, the more he understands and the better he gets."
Urban explained what he would like to see in the future.
"It would be nice if we were a unit and had more officers, more dogs, more responses in the city and then we'd have 24/7 coverage," he said.
Recently, Vader did have to take a week off after he was injured and had to get stitches on his paw.
Urban said when this happens and the team is needed they have to call an out of town unit.
"It's just longer, it's officers waiting to do work and we have to wait for another dog, whereas if we had another dog they would just fill right in," he said.
According to Urban, overall the transition to having Vader has been different but not difficult.
"I lucked out with Vader because he's a fantastic dog, he's easy to deal with but it's been an awesome transition and I'm so happy that the service gave me this opportunity to take this role," he said.
