PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Over the course of 22 years on the Harvard University Police Department, Officer Steven Fumicello has collected a wide range of experiences. Yet nothing compares to the past year, when he welcomed Sasha, the university’s first community engagement dog.
“I’ve done just about every job on the force and this, by far, is the best thing I’ve done,” Fumicello said. “She has definitely built a bridge to engaging with the community. She’s part of the Harvard community now.”
Fumicello talked about his experience on Saturday, July 29 — not at Harvard, but at Brown University, where he and Sasha joined handlers and their dogs from more than 30 agencies across New England and beyond who gathered for the third annual Cops and Comfort Dogs Symposium. It marked the first time the event was hosted by Brown’s Department of Public Safety, which welcomed its own comfort dog, Elvy, late last summer.
“This gives departments the chance to share the range of what these dogs can do,” said Campus Police Officer Dustin Coleman, Elvy’s handler at Brown. “This only improves how we do our job in law enforcement.”