The near-indestructable cameras are virtually the same as those used to fi lm the capture and killing of Al Qaeda mastermind Osama Bin Laden.
Now British police dogs, including Durham Constabulary’s Spike, are wearing the cameras on their backs to help officers with anything from robberies and sieges to terrorism incidents.
The cameras send live footage to a screen that officers can wear on their wrist and the technology also allows police to see in the dark – from the dog’s perspective.
Spike’s handler PC Alan Bates said: “We can use it to clear a larger area or building, places where it’s easier to hide or where it’s dangerous or difficult to send a human.
“If it’s pitch black we can use the infrared capability, combine that with the dog’s nose and sense of hearing and we can locate somebody a lot quicker than searching with a bog-standard flashlight.
“We can then hold the dog in a certain position to cover a particular area. If the dog were to indicate at a door to a room, that would give us a clue that someone’s in that room.”