These four puppies may look cute now - but they are being trained to help fight crime across the North East.
The new recruits have been taken on by the Northumbria Police dog section and arrived last week.
They include eight-week-old Dutch Herder pup Boyce, eight-week-old Belgian Malinois Buzz, a pooch called Blitz whose dad Tag is also a police dog, and Dutch Herder pup Bullet.
Northumbria Police says Bullet is named after his grandfather, a former "dog section legend" who also helped to fight crime.
The force trains pups across a range of departments, from firearm support to forensics and drug detection.
The dog section comprises German Shepherds, Malinois and Labradors, as well as Dutch Herders and Cocker and Springer Spaniels.
Some of the pups come from specialist dog breeders and are from a long line of service dogs, while others can be strays or have been donated by charities such as the Dog’s Trust.
A spokesperson for the force dog section has previously said: "This is noble work for any canine and rest assured, as well as helping to catch criminals and protect, the dogs are also given loving and happy homes with their handlers who treat them and look after them as family.
"Our PDs (police dogs) work until the age of eight to 10, depending on their discipline.
"But just like humans, dogs too also retire and when they do, after years working side-by-side, few handlers could bare to be without their furry co-worker, meaning most continue to live with their handler for the rest of their lives."
News about the arrival of the four-legged crime fighters was shared on the dog section's social media channels and was liked by scores of people.
