Raider is newest, and furriest, addition to ROPD team

ROYAL OAK — The Royal Oak Police Department has welcomed an addition to the team, a 19-month-old, 60-pound black Labrador Retriever named Raider.

Raider is not on the force for the typical reason one would think; he is there to provide happiness and is now the ROPD’s designated “comfort dog.”

“A comfort dog program is something that we identified a number of years ago as something we wanted to bring to both the department and the community,” Deputy Chief Patrick Stanton said.

Stanton said he has prior experience working with and understanding different roles that dogs can play in the police force, and through this knowledge thought that the ROPD could benefit from a comfort dog.

Raider is classified as a “career change” dog. Originally, he was training with the Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester Hills to become a guide dog, but he was unable to meet the requirements of the training.

“During that time, he underwent extensive training; however, he was career changed,” Sgt. Ryan Spangler said. “Very few dogs trained by Leader Dogs satisfy their high standards, and a large number ultimately end up career changes. While they may not be capable of being a guide dog, they are still very well suited to work in other helpful capacities.”

Upon adoption, Spangler became the handler of Raider. Raider lives at Spangler’s home and will now be going to work with Spangler every day he is there.

Spangler said that Raider is a friendly and active dog, mentioning that he enjoys being around people, “especially if they are petting him.”

Raider is currently going through his version of training, which is not much given the prior knowledge and skills he brought with him from his previous training. Right now, Raider is getting acclimated to his surroundings and meeting his coworkers.

“We are very fortunate Raider came to us with a significant level of training as far as behavior and obedience and everything else. So that makes our job easy,” Stanton said.

When Raider completes his training, a typical day for him will be to come to work with Spangler, who works in the professional standards unit.

Spangler has frequent contact with the community through different programs and events and goes into the office Monday through Friday.

“Wherever Sgt. Spangler goes, he (Raider) will go, and then he goes home with Sgt. Spangler,” Stanton said. “He will go with Sgt. Spangler to community events, school visits, it’s just all about the dog interacting with the community. That is the priority of this dog.”

Throughout the week, Raider will be available for anybody in the office who needs a pick-me-up, and according to Stanton, he is already a pro at that part of the job.

“A lot of times Ryan will walk him and bring him throughout the department, just to say hi to the employees and bring smiles and cheer to everybody’s faces,” Stanton said. “The thing you will notice about Raider is that if he comes into a room, it doesn’t matter how bad of a day you might have, everybody lights up.”

Raider will also be available to help alleviate stress or anxiety of people who may be in the Police Department under traumatic circumstances.

“If we have someone come in and maybe went through a traumatic event, the dog may be able to help them relieve their stress and calm down a bit,” Stanton said.

Stanton has been working for the ROPD for around 24 years and said that the differences he has seen in mental health resources awareness have been substantial.

“There has been a significant change in how we approach mental health, both internally with our own personnel and especially with members of the community,” Stanton said. “I am very proud of the work we have done over the last three or four years now to incorporate all of these programs and take the lead as far as interaction with the people having mental health episodes or incidents, or just being able to provide people assistance.”

Within the next few weeks, Raider will be fully acclimated and done with his training. Spangler said that he is looking forward to introducing him to the greater community and excited for the help he can provide.

“He will be expecting his co-workers to give him attention with the thought he will bring a smile to their day,” Spangler said. “We look forward to Raider engaging with the Royal Oak community at events and are excited about this great method to interact with the community.”