A new Police dog called "Rico", along with his handler Senior Constable Tom Evans, are about to join the Invercargill policing team.

The pair graduated from the New Zealand Police (NZ Police) Dog Training Centre in Trentham today (12 Jul).

Evans is a 20 year veteran with NZ Police having worked as both a detective and a member of the Armed Offenders Squad (AOS).

'Rico' will be Evans' third operational dog.

“I’ve had Rico since he was eight weeks old and have trained him from the start," Evans said.

"There’s a personal satisfaction with taking a puppy from fostering to finish and I am looking forward to getting out on duty with him,” he said.