West Midlands Police dogs named after sporting stars
West Midlands Police has announced the names of its new squad of pups, named by the public.
The public voted through social media to name the Commonwealth Games litter of cocker spaniels who were born last month.
Police worked with alongside colleagues at Birmingham 2022 who came up with name suggestions honouring local sporting heroes.
Thousands of votes were received.
They are named after Aldridge swimmer Ellie Simmonds, athletics star Tessa Sanderson, gymnast Joe Fraser, cycling legend Tommy Godwin and triathlete Jodie Stimpson
The puppies were born into West Midlands Police's puppy development programme, with a view to being fully operational next year.
Throughout the programme, they will be teamed up with volunteer fostering families and will go on a training programme ahead with the plan for them to be in operational use before the Games next year.
The majority of the force's detection dogs are spaniels and they will be a vital part of the security operation for Birmingham 2022 when more than 150 dogs will be used across all the different Commonwealth Games venues.
