“There has been a good response from the public for the high-visibility policing” – Rufus the drugs sniffer dog returns to town

Rufus, the specially trained drug scanning dog, was back in Wrexham town centre last week.

It is the second time that Rufus has been out and about in the town, having made his first appearance at the end of July.

The police dog associates the smells of various drugs with a toy or ball, so when Rufus smells drugs a reward is soon on its way.

Speaking at the time town centre officer PC Dave Evans, said that Rufus was part of the of ongoing work to disrupt drug use in the town and to hopefully hammer home the message to those involved to ‘go somewhere else’ than Wrexham.

Last Friday Rufus was back in town during the afternoon and into the early evening. Going forward it hoped that there will also be a focus on the night time economy.

Since his first visit to the town Rufus has gained local celebrity status – having received dozens of comments praising him on social media and positive feedback from people out and about in town.

Speaking about how Friday went, Wrexham Town Sergeant Steve Arnold said: “It was quite a successful day and we carried out 20 stop and searches through indications from the drugs dog.

“Of those six were positive.

“We are hoping to do it again in the next month or so. There has been a good response from the public for the high visibility policing.”

During July Wrexham.com had the opportunity to go on patrol with officers and the police dog to see first hand the work that was being carried out to help reduce drug use and antisocial behaviour.

You can view our video of Rufus in action during his visit over the summer, below: