webofevil | Monkey police

A US police department in Arizona intends to follow through on a proposal to train a capuchin monkey for high-risk police operations. A Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) veteran from Phoenix, Sean Truelove, has researched the possibility of landing a $100,000 federal grant to fund a pilot programme to train one monkey.

“Everybody laughs about it until they really start thinking about it ... it could change the way we do business,” he said.

Truelove told local newspapers that the idea came to him in a dream about 18 months ago. The test monkey could be trained to unlock doors and search buildings for police on command, he said.

The capuchin monkey is considered one of the smartest primates, known by many for its decades-long association with organ grinders. The monkeys weigh 1.3kg to 3.5kg and live for 15 to 20 years.