For many years, police dogs have played an important part in helping officers search unknown environments using their training and instinct to warn of potential threats.

New Axon Body 4 cameras are now being used by Staffordshire Police to give handlers a clearer picture of what dogs are seeing in real time.

This helps police to make more informed decisions, improving both officer and dog safety.

When fitted with the cameras, dogs are able to provide officers with unique insights during searches for suspects, missing people and in other high-risk situations due to the Axon Body 4's live streaming capability.

However, getting to this point was a process of trial and error with no ready-made solution available that met operational needs.

Officers had to be creative, experimenting with a range of harness designs.

Dog handler PC Craig Neeson said: "There wasn't anything on the market that did what we needed it to do.

"Some of the military-style options were very expensive, so we worked with what we had and kept refining it until it was fit for purpose."

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Staffordshire Police said: "Using an existing tracking harness as the starting point, the team modified it through trial and error until they created something that worked safely and practically in operational settings.

"The result is a working solution that allows handlers to remain focused on controlling and supporting the dog while also being able to live stream what the dog sees to their hand-held mobility devices."

Axon Body 4 cameras are being rolled out across the force alongside continued investment in technology policing, safety and investigations.