ADI’s K-9 Crisis Reponse Teams Provide Support for Victims

by Kerry Bleskan

“I kiddingly tell police officers that they provide the tough dogs for the criminals and we provide the fluff dogs for the victims,” says Nancy Pierson, manager of the K-9 Support Programs at Santa Rosa’s Assistance Dog Institute (ADI). She’s joking because her Crisis Response teams’ “fluff dogs” and their victims’ advocate handlers perform difficult, even wrenching work when called in by the Santa Rosa police department.

She describes the dogs as soft and mellow. “They provide stress relief, bringing down blood pressure and stabilizing heart rate. It helps the victim get to a state of mind where they can answer the questions the police need them to answer.”

The teams also provide a nonthreatening counterpoint to the presence of police. Pierson, who volunteers with her dogs Peyton and Little Bit, notes that the victims’ advocates who work with the dogs are volunteers. “We don’t wear uniforms. We’re average citizens, just like the victim.”

One of the dogs’ advantages is that they are utterly unlike the perpetrator. If a person has been physically or sexually violated, the last thing they want is another person touching them. “They can hug and pet the dog, or cry into its fur. The dog may lay its head in their lap.”The contact helps to tell the body’s alert system that the crisis is over. The victim may begin to tremble or cry for the first time since the crime. “It starts the healing process and lets the body do what it needs to do.”

Whether a crisis response team responds to a crime investigation depends on the crime and the victim. Santa Rosa police summon a victims’ advocate every time certain violent crimes are committed. If the advocate on call does not work with a dog, Pierson said they may decide to bring one in, especially if the crime victim is a child, a senior citizen, or has been sexually assaulted. “We are available through the whole process, not just the [police] response.” A crisis response team might visit with a crime victim before court testimony, for instance.

Practice, practice, practice

Dogs and volunteer advocates have to work long and hard to be qualified for, well, more hard work. Humans must undergo 40 hours of victims’ advocate training and an intense background check. The dog has to be more than a year old and be able to pass each part of the AKC’s Canine Good Citizen test, plus six more points specific to ADI’s therapy programs. Dog and handler receive 17 hours of social therapy training through ADI and are later tested on the material. Once the pair makes the ADI team and receives training through the police department, there are monthly meetings and ongoing training.

Boy, howdy, is there training. Mostly, it’s to socialize dogs to situations and stimuli Lassie never dreamed of. “We try to be familiar with all different emergency scenarios before they happen in real life,” Pierson said. Crisis response dogs are cool, calm, and collected around sirens, hydraulic ladders, and fully suited firefighters and SWAT teams. They’ve been around and inside ambulances, police cruisers and motorcycles, and fire trucks. They recently took field trips to check out the helicopters and aircraft used by law enforcement.

Rewards “just phenomenal”

Bea Melville of Santa Rosa volunteers with Rocky, her six-year-old Pomeranian, says the work is beyond gratifying. “To see the effect these dogs can have on people, it’s just phenomenal.” Melville’s been part of the ADI team for about a year and a half. As a volunteer, her only financial cost has been training. “Rocky has been training since he was two years old.” The time commitment for crisis response is being on call 12 hours each week. In addition, she and Rocky visit rest homes, hospitals, and psychiatric wards once or twice a week.

Can I do this?

The crisis response team happily accepts recruits willing to meet the rigorous requirements. They are also currently training two more puppies. Donations are also welcomed. “To my knowledge, ADI’s Crisis Response Program is the only one of its kind in the U.S.,” Pierson said. “We have partnered with both law enforcement and the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE).”

While the ADI program is unique, Pierson thinks interested citizens can use it as a model to work with their local law enforcement. “I think the concept of crisis response training is pretty universal. The training has to be tailored to the needs of the community being served.” She mentions HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response (www.hopeaacr.org), a national group that offers training and continuing education, as a possible resource. “It depends on the openness of the local police department and whether they have a victims’ advocate program.”

Trauma response

At press time, the teams were preparing to return to Casa Grande High School for an event that highlights the dangers of impaired driving. They assisted school counselors and staff in December after four students were killed in a tragic car accident that did not involve drugs or alcohol. Dogs helped students and staff deal with their feelings, and helped counselors identify and work with teens who may not otherwise have sought counseling. Education officials were so impressed that they wrote the teams into their crisis plan, and are now among the five mental health support groups that respond to school crises in the county.

The April 5 event, called Every 15 Minutes, is staged yearly and is rotated among area schools. Activities are emotionally intense and highly symbolic. A fatal crash is staged in front of the school. To represent fatalities related to impaired driving, one student is removed from class every 15 minutes throughout the school day. Those students attend an overnight retreat rather than returning home that night.

Melville thinks the students will appreciate the dogs’ support. “I think it will absolutely help that they know the dogs. They’ve all become very attached to Rocky and Peyton because the dogs were so good with them before.” “It’s going to be really emotional, staging a car crash so soon after the real thing,” Pierson said, but thinks the dogs will be tremendously helpful. “They are such experts at reading body language. They tend to go to the person who needs them the most. You can’t train for that. It’s very instinctual.”