After six months of training, a 4-year-old toy poodle named Mochi passed the police dog exam last month and has become the latest canine addition to Kyoto Prefecture's police department in Japan, ABC News reports.
Mochi is the third toy poodle to join Japan's police force.
Last November, the Wall Street Journal reported that two toy poodles, Karin and Fuga, were commissioned as police search and rescue dogs in Tottori Prefecture -- joining the ranks of a small but growing number of small-breed dogs (including chihuahuas and miniature schnauzers) that are being signed up for police work in Japan.
According to Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, Mochi has been trained to be a sniffer dog and will help in the following of footprints and in the detection of explosives, drugs and other odors.
Mochi -- who weighs just under 4 pounds -- may come in a tiny package, but his owner Naomi Yasuda is certain that the plucky dog will pack quite the crime-fighting punch.
"Mochi has always been at the top of his class, in training school," Yasuda told ABC News. "I just wanted to find a way for him to help others."
For more on Mochi: Watch a video of Mochi in training and here is a photo of the little crime-fighter looking snazzy after a haircut (note the revolver charm around his neck) on Yasuda's Twitter feed: