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SLEDGE PATROL-- JULY 28, 2003
I have been invited to visit Daneborg, the headquarters for
the Sirius Sledge Patrol, one of the most unusual police forces
in the world. As usual in northern Greenland, my transport is
by Twin Otter airplane. My pilot has been flying Twin Otters
in Greenland for 26 years, a comforting fact since every time
I land on the rough gravel clearings that pass as landing strips
here I expect the plane to cartwheel into tundra.
At the runway I am met by Birger Bjerregaard, who has command Daneborg for
the last year. Before that, he was a patrolman for two years. Birger explains
that the Sledge Patrol has a long and distinguished history on the
northeast coast of Greenland. The tradition began in 1933 when an
international trial in The Hague upheld Denmark's sovereignty over northeast
Greenland. In order secure its claim, Demark created a police force,
operating by sled dog. During World War II, the police became a branch of
the military, protecting the coast from German incursions. The Germans
desperately wanted to build a weather station in northeast Greenland because
Greenland weather information is essential for forecasting Western Europe
conditions. The Germans did build a several stations, but each time they
were discovered and evicted, twice with American assistance. After WWII, the
force was given renewed life by the Cold War. Today, there is no military
necessity to protect the coast, but now the Sledge Patrol serves as a
ranger service for the National Park
In this day and age of high-tech law-enforcement hardware, it is hard to
believe that there is a police force anywhere in the world that uses
equipment so simple and antiquated as the Sledge Patrol. But the truth is,
if you want to travel in northeast Greenland in the winter, sled dogs and
rugged wooden sleds are still the best way to do it.
Bright and early the morning after I arrive, Allan Broholm Pedersen and
Christian Holm Andersen invite me to accompany them to exercise their dogs.
Each team is assigned a color, and theirs is yellow. The six Sirius teams also each
have a number, though there is no number six, in deference to "team six"
that died of exposure during a terrible storm in the 1960s. The dogs are
harnessed in order, starting with Buller, the lead dog at the very front.
At this time of year there is little snow at sea level where the Sledge
Patrol is based. To my surprise, however, the teams put their dogs through
their paces nonetheless. With me on the sled and the two patrolman running
alongside, we take off across the wet tundra. Unbelievably they drive right
over boulders bigger than basketballs and leap across three-foot-wide
cracks in the ground. Within several minutes my astonishment is replaced
with fear, as it seems that at any moment the sled will roll over.
Amazingly, however, I remain upright.
After a hour-long workout, we return to base. I'm bruised from hugging the
sled's handles. The patrolmen are sweating from the intense exercise. It's
time for breakfast.
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Sirius - The Sledge Patrol
Greenland is protected by a team of law enforcement officers that drive sleds instead of cars. See photos of the team in action and the dogs
that make their travel possible.
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