University Police K9 Unit
The Butler University Police Department K-9 Unit
was established in December 2011 with one police service dog,
Marcus, and his handler Officer Jason Downs. Marcus was
purchased through a generous gift by an anonymous
donor.
Marcus is
a Lab trained specifically for explosives detection which will
compliment our partnership with the Indianapolis Metropolitan
Police Department to sweep and protect our major sporting event and
theatre sites on campus. Butler University routinely hosts high
profile events and visits by political figures. In addition
to Butler venues Marcus and Officer Downs as a team will
be detailed to the IMPD and the Indiana University Police
Department to sweep other event sites throughout Indianapolis
as needed.
Off duty,
police service dogs live with their handlers and become an integral
part of their families. Marcus was selected based on his
sociability, intelligence, and ability to train. Marcus joins Blue II on
campus, but likely won't be as famous!
Training
and use of K9's on university campuses
Marcus is
available for community demonstrations and rumor has it, he
can dance. K-9 Handler Officer Jason Downs joined the University
Police Department in November 2008. He was previously a K-9 handler
with the New Castle Indiana Police Department. Officer Downs and
Marcus will rotate through the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police
Department (IMPD) K9 Training Program on a monthly
basis. Marcus was purchased from Pacific Coast K9 and in addition to
partnering with IMPD Marcus and Officer Downs have teamed-up for
extended training on explosives with Scott's K9 program.
Marcus
will become a familiar face at Hinkle Field House and Clowes
Memorial Hall as another tool to protect our institution, faculty,
staff, students, and visitors. Since 2010, Butler has been
partnering with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department to
conduct K9 EOD sweeps before all men's basketball games.
Although
it may not be a new tool for some university police departments the
program is a new commitment for additional safety at Butler
University. "It's established best practice in law enforcement
to be proactive with major events and it's also becoming more
and more standard for universities to have their own EOD
K9. " - Director of Public Safety/Chief of Police
Benjamin Hunter.
Support
for the K9 Program
The Butler
University Police Department would like to thank additional donors
to our K-9 program to significantly off-set the cost: