Detective Chapman and Stanford, and Gaby and Maddox all made their television debut today - LIVE on Good Day Sacramento with the amazing Dina Kupfer!
Stanford and Maddox are therapy K9s that came to us from the National Institute of Canine Service and Training NICST) and have already proven to be tremendous assets to the department and the community. As we’ve shared previously, it’s through NICST’s First Response K9 program that Stanford and Maddox were acquired.
“Dogs break barriers,” Mary Hooker, the Program Coordinator for NICST’s First Response K9 Program said. “Whether you have an officer, dispatcher or other first responder as the handler - the first thing people see is the dog. The dog helps bring calm and can bring people out of themselves when experiencing stress. If they’ve been through a traumatic or critical incident, the dog can help bring their blood pressure down, and help them talk about what’s going on and what they’ve been through.”
Detective Chapman has already seen Stanford work wonders in the Special Victims Unit (formerly called the Family Violence Unit), where he’s currently assigned. He’s a forensic interviewer and sometimes (understandably) it can be difficult to get people to talk. Since Stanford’s graduation a couple of weeks ago, he’s accompanied Detective Chapman on some of those interviews.
Recently, for example, a victim was anxious about doing a pretext phone call (a phone call that often results in a confession from a suspect) and after getting comfort from Stanford, the person’s level of comfort increased significantly. “Stanford breaks the ice,” Chapman said.
Dispatch Supervisor Gaby has seen similar success with Maddox since he joined the department in July.
Dispatchers manage some pretty traumatic calls, and they don’t often learn the final outcome once the call has ended. Not knowing the resolution can take a toll - and that’s where Maddox comes in.
“Maddox has the run of the Dispatch call center,” Gaby said. “He’ll get up in the middle of the day to greet and love on people, but he can also sense when someone may be stressing or having a hard time and he doesn’t hesitate to provide comfort then too.”
Miss the segments? Catch them here:
Maddox:
https://www.cbsnews.com/gooddaysacramento/video/meet-maddox/
Stanford:
https://www.cbsnews.com/gooddaysacramento/video/fairfield-polices-new-support-animal/
