'Comfort' The Dog Joins ​Anne Arundel County Police

From Anne Arundel Police:The Anne Arundel County Police Department on Monday announced the newest member to the department, Comfort, a facility assistance dog. After over a year of applications and interviews the department has been awarded the opportunity to receive a facility dog through a nonprofit organization, Canine Companions for Independence.

Canine Companions for Independence enhances the lives of people by providing highly trained assistance dogs and ongoing support to ensure quality partnerships.

Facility assistance dogs are different from typical family pets in that they receive extensive and specialized training and are partnered with professional facilitators to primarily provide structured, practical “task oriented” interactions to groups of children and adults with disabilities in health care, education, and other professional settings.

Comfort was matched with facilitator Lt. Ryan Frashure during an intensive two-week training program in Long Island, New York. Comfort’s primary role in the department will be to serve as a goodwill ambassador at community events, meetings, school visits with children, and will be utilized in the Child Advocacy Center when a child is a witness or victim of a crime.

Comfort will be a huge asset to our police department and will benefit our employees, and citizens in countless ways, police said in a news release.

Photos courtesy of AACOPD