It’s Not “Just the Facts Ma’am” Any Longer

Service Dog 411 is in the process of fine-tuning an education program about service dogs for the City of Richmond Police Department.  It’s very exciting to know that we are providing this training to all officers as part of their annual training protocols which includes their gun certification.  It will also be part of all future cadet training programs.

One of the things that surprised me about working on this project was a comment made by more than one officer noting that they’d never been offered training about service dogs before.  I was also told that if they’d been called out to a situation involving a SD, not only would they not know what to do, they would have likely sided with the business owner and asked the individual with their SD to leave the premises.

While much of this education is about the ADA, it is also about appropriate service dog protocol, the emotional impact of the independence that comes with having a service dog, and the frustration that comes with being frequently stopped with questions about their dog.  I think one of the most powerful statements in this training is:  “If someone with a service dog tells you they have a disability, you must believe them whether they look disabled or not.” 

We are so excited that beginning now, police officers in the City of Richmond, will not only “know what to do”, they will understand the emotional impact of what they are being asked to do.  If you think the police in your community need this training program, please drop me a note at sue@servicedog411.com.