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Tempe, AZ (KPHO) — The Arizona State University Police Department has a new employee and it is a four-legged creature.
The department announced Friday that they hired their first-ever emotional support dog named “Dutch,” a 3-month-old black Labrador puppy.
According to ASU police, Dutch will be available to provide comfort to victims of crimes so they may feel more at ease speaking with police.
Dutch will also occasionally be seen around campus during exam weeks, providing stressed-out students a chance to unwind.
“We are extremely excited to provide this service to our community members,” said ASU Police Chief Michael Thompson.
“Going through a traumatic experience or having anxiety about a situation can be difficult to deal with and hard to talk about. We hope that Dutch will be able to put people’s minds at ease and help them manage the fears and emotions they may be experiencing.”
Thompson added that Dutch’s name was selected unanimously by members of the police department, in honor of officer James “Dutch” Lister who died of a heart attack while on duty in December 2010.
“I worked with Officer Lister before his passing and he was always the consummate professional and treated everyone with dignity and respect,” Thompson said.
“Officer Lister’s widow is very excited about Dutch and said Officer Lister would have been honored to know that this puppy with his namesake will be helping people.”
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