02-12-2018 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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AGENDA ITEM Item No.: 11 Date: February 12, 2018 Item Description: Approve of Community Service Dog (K-9) Presenter: Correy Farniok Agenda Public Safety Report Police Chief Section: 1. Purpose. The purpose of this action item is to gain approval to proceed with a partnership with Can Do Canine to establish a Community Service K-9 program for the Orono Police Department. 2. Background. The Orono Police Department has made it a goal to integrate creative and functional ways to engage the community. By doing so we have been able to create lasting bonds with our community members and local businesses while giving a high level of service that our community expects. We pride ourselves on helping people within our community to the best of our abilities and are always looking to find ways to improve. One area of improvement is a partnership with Can Do Canines. Can Do Canines would work with providing a community service dog as a member of our department. What is a Community Service dog? These dogs are far different than the standard police K9 drug detection and apprehension species. Community Service dogs are not "alpha" dogs but rather like most other household pets that our specifically tested and trained for socialization. These dogs are meant for large gatherings and meeting many people without the worries of it being a danger to the public. Community Service dogs do not need annual training or certifications to ensure the quality of work is good. They naturally use their comforting skills to put people at ease. Integrating and Use of Community Service dog As a department we deal with many different stressful calls that involve people in some type of distress such as: mental health crisis, domestic disputes, car accidents, medicals, juvenile situations at the schools and many more. These calls typically involve people that are emotionally heightened due to the incident. Although, our officers do a great job of trying to help alleviate some of the initial stress it is difficult to do in all cases. Community Service dogs are specifically trained to recognize those who are distressed and just need some general soothing. Community Service dogs would offer another tool for us as we go about our daily work. We respond to many cases that involve mental health crisis. In the past few months there have been four different juveniles that I believe would benefit from seeing our police Community Service dog to help ease their fears and anxiety. Our Community Service dog would also be used as an integral part of our community policing effort. The mild nature of Community Service dogs, would allow our officers to bring him anywhere as long as the business/residence would allow us. This would include schools, churches, community events, rotary meetings, assisted living residences etc. The list is almost endless on how much this type of dog could be used. Prepared By: Correy Farniok Reviewed By: Correy Farniok Approved By: -Sb96Z