Delaware Capitol Police to expand facility dog program
Dover, Del. – The Delaware Capitol Police recently announced they will expanding their facility dog program to Kent and Sussex Counties.
Currently, Delaware Capitol Police have one facility dog, five-year-old Vin, and his handler Officer Donna DiClemente. Facility dogs have service dog training but differ in that service dogs only serve their handlers whereas Vin is meant to provide services to everyone else around him. They help reduce people’s anxieties when it comes to reliving traumatic experiences in court, according to DiClemente. So far, Vin has helped victims and witnesses in all three Delaware counties, DiClemente said, by helping lower their blood pressure and allow them to focus on telling their stories.
“He was able to calm them down enough to tell their story,” DiClemente said. She said that judges have given the program positive feedback after seeing the results firsthand. She said victims were not ready to speak about their experiences until meeting Vin. “And then they saw the change, and they actually wrote letters,” she said.
Vin and DiClemente help witnesses and victims before, during and after giving their testimony and while they’re being cross-examined. DiClemente said Vin is an invaluable resource to both the prosecution and the defense.
“I get calls and comments all the time from everyone, whether it be judges, attorneys, victims, John Q citizen,” Chief William Thompson said. “They love the program. They love Donna. And then they the requests have kind of exploded, recently up and down the state.”
The program started in New Castle County and now the attorney general’s office, Family Court and Superior Court are the offices that request the facility dog services the most, according to Thompson. He said courts were not the only ones that reach out for Vin’s services and training, he said educational facilities and nonprofits also reach out to them.
Both Thompson and DiClemente stressed that those who would like to reserve Vin’s services, they should do so as soon as they know when they might need him.
“It’s a first come, first served basis,” DiClemente said and mentioned that there is a waitlist that people join once their request has been approved. Thompson encouraged people to reach out and said he was happy to review cases that could benefit from Vin’s services.
Delaware Capitol Police are hoping to get another facility dog and are applying to grants to get the funding. Thompson said that they have a volunteer, a retired New Castle County police officer, who has expressed interest in stepping in as a new handler. He said that capitol police are always happy to receive feedback about the program and those that feel they would like to donate towards getting a new facility dog can do so by contacting their office.
