APPLETON, Wis. (WFRV) – Appleton Police Chief Todd Thomas and Victim Services Officer Lori Duven joined Local 5 and introduced their newest canine ‘Edison’.
Thomas said that technically his name is ‘Edison the Fourth’, and the department has had him for about a month. They were able to first introduce him to the public yesterday.
Duven is Edison’s handler, and she tells Local 5 that Edison will be used with victims. He will also be used in different areas in the victim side of things as opposed to working on the criminal side of things.
Edison has already spent some time with other officers as well as making a visit to the Outagamie County District Attorney’s Office (where he met some judges), elementary schools and the harbor house.
He is trained in over 40 different commands that can be helpful in multiple different situations. Some of the commands that Duven explained were having Edison pick up a box of tissues, lay his head on someone’s lap or even pick up a puzzle piece to help a child with a puzzle.
Edison was provided, free of charge, to the department by Canine Companions.