GVPD introduces new K9, Scout, to the media

The Grand Valley Police Department officially introduced its new K9, Scout, to local media Thursday. A press conference was held at the Laker Store on Monroe near Rosa Parks Circle in Grand Rapids.

Scout joined the department in June after spending four weeks training with Officer Paul Weaver in Clare with an organization called Northern Michigan K9. Weaver and Scout are trained in explosives detection as well as search and rescue operations.

GVPD Chief Brandon DeHaan spoke about the importance of bringing Scout to campus and his role within the community.

“It really ups our game with our ability to interact with our community,” said DeHaan. “As an explosives dog, this will be an asset that will help mitigate any issues that we have in relation to any explosive situations.”

DeHaan said the department would utilize Scout in a similar way to its previous K9, Koda. Scout will play a significant role in safety operations during major university events such as football games or critical incidents on campus, as well as being available to respond to critical incidents at K-12 schools.

Weaver followed DeHaan and discussed the training he and Scout undertook as well as his day-to-day responsibilities.

“We are community police officers, so we are working with our housing department, and we will work with students on campus as well as faculty and staff in addition to our purposes in explosives,” Weaver said.

DeHaan highlighted the commitment the department and GVSU has made to prioritize campus safety. He spoke about the department’s Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies accreditation, the gold standard for law enforcement on an international level as well as keying on specific features provided by the department.

“We work very hard to create a variety of different safety solutions for our community,” DeHaan said. “Part of those solutions are not only full-time law enforcement officers working on campus, but we also have a full-time dispatch. Scout is also a part of that -- another asset in our safety portfolio.”

Read local media stories on Scout from: MLive , WZZM , WWMT, WXMI and WOODTV