Jane Dunn’s job as a senior constable is serious work. A forensic photographer for NZ Police, she has the responsibility of capturing crime and incident scenes including homicides, fatal car crashes and post-mortems. But there’s a lighter side to the Wellington officer’s career. With the help of mini denim jackets, banana costumes and pint-sized tuxedos, Jane also uses her lens to capture police dogs and puppies in training.
“I’m very passionate about forensics and love my job, but I’ve seen all the worst things you can imagine and it can be quite confronting,” says Jane, 42, whose forensic work covers the wider Wellington area and the Wairarapa. “For me, the police dog stuff is a real breath of fresh air and I do it for my sanity. I love capturing these majestic animals in cool ways and coming up with funny ideas.”
Jane started posting photos of pups and operational dogs on her social media in 2015, after she took snaps for the first NZ Police Dog Trust calendar. When she realised how much creativity was involved in photographing canines and their handlers in action, this officer, who’s worked in several frontline roles, knew she’d found her happy place.
This German shepherd pup is already feeling the full weight of the law!
“While Labradors are trained to work with drugs, firearms and explosives, German shepherds work on the frontline, responding to jobs as they happen, including armed incidents. Unfortunately, they sometimes have a bad name because of what they do for work, and not everyone gets to see them playing with their handlers and families,” explains Jane, whose husband Scott, 44, also works for NZ Police. “But they’re beautiful animals and the amount of training that goes into them is unbelievable. I love getting out the awesome side of these animals and capturing their cute wee faces.”
She also wanted to ensure beautiful shots were taken of them with their handlers in case the dogs are ever lost in the line of duty.
When hundreds of people started liking her dog photos online, Jane continued posting and she now has nearly 4000 followers on Instagram (@janedunnphotography) and Facebook, eager to see Aotearoa’s cutest service pups.
‘The police dog stuff is a real breath of fresh air and I do it for my sanity’
Many of her photos are shared through the popular #fridayfloof posts on NZ Police’s social media channels, which Jane snaps in her own time. If she’s late posting, she’ll often receive messages from fur loving fans asking when a new photo’s coming.
While it’s a joy catching snaps of dogs running through the ocean or sitting on snow-capped mountains, there’s no room for creativity in forensic photography, which is all about attention to detail.
When Jane studied for a degree in administration of justice and criminology at Portland State University in Oregon – where she was invited on a basketball scholarship after high school – her family weren’t surprised.
“I’ve had a guilty pleasure of reading about serial killers since I was little and started reading crime novels at about eight. My parents and brothers probably thought I was a bit strange,” she laughs.
It was while working in NZ Police’s specialist search squad that she met a forensic photographer and knew she wanted the same job. After a month-long national training course through the police college, Jane qualified and was offered a job six months later.
‘Not everyone gets to see them playing with their handlers and families’
“My first forensic job was an assault situation and there was blood all through the house, but there was one room where the assault had happened. I was so nervous I wasn’t going to get all the photos I needed that I took 756 of that room!” she recalls. “I remember giving them to the scientist and he just laughed at me. In that house now, I would’ve taken around 150 photos if I was lucky.”
Not only does Jane take photos at homicide and crime scenes, but her department covers a range of jobs including photographing offenders and victims, documenting postmortems, and doing CCTV and video interview editing.
“TV shows like CSI and NCIS have always made forensic photography look really easy, but the actual work that goes into it is intense and it relies on us. I never get bored,” tells Jane, who sees a mandated psychologist every three months through work. “It’s a hard job and I have to go in with a victim-focused mindset, knowing my job is to gather the evidence to be able to hold the offenders to
account. That’s how I handle all the things we see.”
Jane says she’s proud of the work she does to help bring justice to victims. Obviously, snapping police pooches on the side helps too.
“I love dogs, any kind of dog, and it’s a passion now,” she enthuses. “It’s fun and cute, and the photos have created a bit of a cult following.”
