Change is inevitable in law enforcement, and this requires proactive leaders open to new ideas. Many departments become stuck in comfortable but outdated modes of thinking, and it can be discouraging to encounter unyielding attitudes and resistance to innovation. As command staff, we are uniquely placed to implement new ideas that can propel our departments forward and help us support our officers and community.

Community policing, a concept taught since the 1980s, is more important today than ever. Agencies across the country prioritize community involvement because commanding public trust is essential to any effective police department. Over the years, the Madisonville, Kentucky, Police Department (MPD) has excelled in many aspects of community policing. But an exceptional experience made me aware of an opportunity to enhance officer wellness, increase public trust, and engage with the public to benefit the overall well-being of the community.

Taking the Leap

Because I was in an officer-involved shooting in 2015, I was offered the chance to become one of the inaugural members of the Kentucky Post-Critical Incident Seminar,¹ hosted by the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training. This three-day course provides training and education on critical incidents and mental health for law enforcement. Every officer who attends meets one-on-one with a mental health professional to discuss their critical incidents and work toward overcoming the lingering stress and anguish these events can leave behind.

I learned enhanced protocols for handling critical incidents as a leader and had time to reflect on how I had addressed such instances in the past. It is important to note that a critical incident is not just an officer-involved shooting but can be one of many events that call for a law enforcement response. These include natural disasters, line-of-duty deaths, or sexual assaults. As police officers, we see hundreds of these incidents over the course of our careers.

That seminar was one of the most beneficial trainings of my career. I wondered how officers could be expected to take care of the public if we did not have strategies to care for ourselves.

The coursework made me want to prioritize mental health, not only in our agency but also throughout the entire community. We began by implementing a peer support team and creating a chaplain position. The peer support team had success in its first year, but I felt our efforts could be improved. After some research, I pitched the idea of adding a Critical Incident Response Team K9 (CIRT K9) and expanding that support and connection externally into our community.

Prioritizing Officer Wellness

CIRT K9s are not typical therapy dogs. They are highly trained and useful in myriad situations. These K9s must meet standards to qualify for Alliance for Emergency Response Instructors and Examiners (AERIE) certification.² While relatively new to law enforcement, these dogs are a growing presence across the country.³

The K9s’ training allows them to detect stress hormones of persons affected by a critical incident and offer comfort. Studies have shown that just touching a dog can positively affect someone’s biology; petting one reduces the stress hormone cortisol, thereby lowering heart rate and blood pressure. Social interaction between people and their dogs increases levels of the feel-good hormone oxytocin (the same hormone that bonds mothers to their babies).⁴ The resulting sense of calm can help victims reduce their anxiety and find the courage to overcome their situation.

My department’s CIRT K9, Cash, started duty on April 1, 2024. He is a 3-year-old yellow Labrador retriever initially adopted from a shelter. He is named in memory of retired Trooper Jody Cash, who was tragically shot and killed in the line of duty during an interrogation for a neighboring agency. Trooper Cash was a tireless advocate for officer mental health, and K9 Cash helps keep his namesake’s memory alive while making mental health a priority in his honor.

Previous generations often had a stigma against speaking about how this career affects officers, considering it a sign of weakness. Erasing this stigma is essential.⁵ We want to give our officers and dispatchers tools to cope with the daily stresses of the job using positive methods.

Ongoing studies suggest that law enforcement officers and first responders handle the stresses of their jobs much better if station dogs are available in their departments.⁶ To that end, Cash makes daily visits to our patrol division and Hopkins County Central Dispatch. His presence opens the door to both educating and supporting our officers in speaking about mental health. These visits have been very well received.

Establishing Community Relationships

Cash also makes frequent visits to our local school systems to build relationships with the students and the staff. He is very popular—as soon as children see him enter the building, they yell his name in excitement. His impact has reached thousands of children in his first 10 months. Nearly 5,000 baseball cards with Cash’s picture and a description of his job have been handed out to elementary school students this year.

While his main purpose when visiting schools is to educate about mental health awareness, his ability to build rapport with students is an additional benefit. Unfortunately, in today’s world, it is likely that a child in our jurisdiction will be a victim or otherwise involved in a crime. If that student already has a relationship with Cash, the K9’s presence during that trauma can be a tremendous help.

The MPD uses Cash to help comfort victims at interviews or on scenes. For instance, he has provided support during the initial interviews of child victims. One local school requested him to assist in an interview of two children too traumatized to speak to school staff or law enforcement. However, after meeting with Cash, the children’s anxiety decreased to the point that they could explain a graphic and heinous crime they had witnessed in their home. This led to them getting moved to a safe place and to authorities conducting a large seizure of weapons and drugs. Without Cash, the outcome might not have been as positive. We now receive calls to travel to multiple counties to assist in child investigations with the Kentucky State Police and other law enforcement agencies across the commonwealth.

Thinking it Through

If you are considering incorporating a CIRT K9 into your department, there are some steps to address before you begin. Do your due diligence and research to see if this program would be a good fit for your agency. Look into proper insurance and veterinary care. When the time comes to select your dog, I recommend seeking experts in the realm of CIRT K9s. For example, K9s for Freedom and Independence⁷ and Guide Dogs of the Desert⁸ are both excellent nonprofits that specialize in and train top-tier canines and provide them to departments to use for the enhancement of mental health.

Perhaps the most important decision is to establish who will be the K9 handler and if any additional training is required. In our case, I was the obvious candidate to take on the responsibility. I was passionate about the program and knew it would either succeed or fail on my shoulders. Also, I already had the necessary Critical Incident Stress Management and peer support training. To supplement these, I was required to attend the annual National CIRT K9 Conference, received an additional 40 hours of specialized training when I received Cash, and—per our department policy—am also obligated to train 16 hours per month. 

Confirming Your Funding

The MPD’s program has been enthusiastically supported by our administration and the city of Madisonville. A huge selling point of the initiative was that it came at no cost to our agency. Collaborating with a local nonprofit, the Patrick Rudd Project—which supports first responders and veterans in western Kentucky—this program was fully funded with a total cost of the K9 and equipment totaling around $10,000. Otherwise, this probably would not have been possible at our department.

Every agency likely has local nonprofits that would love to support officer and community wellness. I encourage you to collaborate with those organizations or reach out to police benevolence funds to assist in defraying costs. In Cash’s first six months, our department received over $25,000 in donations to assist our K9 team.

Conclusion

The Madisonville, Kentucky, Police Department’s Critical Incident Response Team K9 initiative will impact thousands of lives in the city throughout the years of this program. Since beginning duty, Cash has sat through multiple jury trials to comfort juvenile victims of heinous sexual assaults. He met with survivors of a recent tornado and their families. Cash has responded to fatality collisions to comfort victims, families, officers, and first responders. And, he makes monthly visits to our local veterans nursing home facility and has even been requested to meet with families at the area hospital during their loved one’s final hours of life.

Keeping pace with the evolving nature of our profession requires creative thinking and, sometimes, taking a risk. As leaders, we are charged with considering the big picture and taking the necessary steps to provide the best possible support to our departments and communities in furtherance of the mission.

K9 Cash has bolstered officer mental health awareness and enabled positive outcomes for the people we serve. If it is feasible, I strongly encourage all agencies to consider starting a CIRT K9 program to benefit your mental health and community outreach initiatives.