New London police to add wellness, patrol dogs to ranks
Aug. 12—NEW LONDON — City police are doubling the number of canine members of the department, with plans to add two dogs to the ranks in the coming weeks.
Reya, a German shepherd who arrived at the department this week, is headed for training with his partner, Officer Joseph Hajj, in anticipation of life on the streets of New London as a patrol dog.
Community Resource Officer Christina Nocito was recently named to be part of a second K-9 team with a decidedly more approachable partner. Nocito is to be paired with a wellness dog from Puppies Behind Bars, a New York-based nonprofit whose service dogs are trained by prison inmates and go on to provide emotional support to officers and crime victims.
New London Police Chief Brian Wright said he also expects the new wellness dog to become a great tool for community outreach. In addition to providing therapeutic assistance to department staff, first responders and crime victims, Wright said he expects the dog to be a hit at community events and educational programs.
"They break barriers and melt ice immediately," Wright said. "It can only benefit our agency and our community."
Wright said the wellness dog initiative is something he's been considering for several years and success of the initiatives at neighboring police departments has shown the its benefits.
Waterford and Groton Town Police departments are among other departments to obtain dogs from Puppies Behind Bars. Groton Town Community Policing Officer Heather McClelland, whose partner is a Labrador Retriever named Chase, was honored in June with the U.S. Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service in Community Policing. Waterford Community Engagement Officer Eric Fredricks, whose K-9 partner is a black Labrador named Hodges, was honored as the Waterford Police Officer of the Year in 2022. East Lyme police has a comfort dog in training.
Waterford Police Chief Marc Balestracci said the comfort dog program has been incredibly successful in town and he is excited to see New London starting its own program.
Balestracci said Fredricks and Hodges have helped the department to improve in three areas critical at the department: community outreach, victim wellness and officer wellness. The pair are at nearly every community event in town and have partnered with McClellan and Chase to travel the state to assist where needed.
"These comfort dogs help break down barriers between police and some community members who may not interact in other ways, which is very encouraging," Balestracci said.
The K-9 teams also respond to people in crisis or have been victimized in some way. Fredricks and Hodges responded to sooth the emotions and reduce anxiety of staff at a local bank that had been robbed. The team spent time in Bristol with the families of Bristol Police Officers Lt. Dustin DeMonte and Sgt. Alex Hamzy, who were shot and killed in October.
Earlier this year, a member of the Waterford police Department died by suicide and Balestracci said Fredricks and Hodges played a critical role in helping officers and the officer's family "through the chaos and extremely emotional time."
"I can tell you personally, they made a difference," Balestracci said.
In New London, K-9 Reya and Officer Hajj, after becoming better acquainted, will be headed to K-9 training classes. Reja will be trained in tracking, evidence recovery, suspect apprehension, building searches, and can be cross trained for narcotics detection, said New London Police union President Joshua Bergeson. The union, he said, pushed for the addition of the new patrol dog.
Reya and Hajj will join New London Police Officer Joseph Kondash and his K-9 Iris and Officer Seth Bolduc and K-9 Zeke. Bergeson said the department is working on obtaining certification for narcotics detection for all three dogs.
