Secaucus Boy Scouts Meet Oakley, SPD's Therapy Dog

SECAUCUS, NJ — The last Friday of every month is always a special "pack meeting" for the Secaucus Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts Troop #22. And this Friday, the Secaucus Police Department had Oakley the service dog give a very special presentation to the kids.

Oakley is owned by Secaucus Police Officer Taylor Ensmann. What made tonight really nice is that Officer Ensmann used to be a Secaucus Cub Scout, and he is now a police officer in the town he grew up in.

Assistant Scout leader Sheila Witrock organized the evening's presentation.

Oakley is not a trained police K9, but he is a certified service animal. That means Oakley does not help solve crimes, unlike Strobe, the police department's trained police canine. But the Secaucus Police Dept. brings Oakely to comfort children or members of the public when there has been a fire at a home, or a child has witnessed a crime or a domestic violence incident (this happens more often than you might realize).

Also, Officer Ensmann brings Oakley out to street fairs, to other community events and to hang out with Secaucus senior citizens.

Oakley is personally owned by Ensmann.

It was Ensmann who first came up with the idea to use Oakley as part of his regular patrol duties. Police Chief Dennis Miller immediately said "yes" and said he had been looking to add a therapy dog to further improve town-police community relations, which are already on good terms here in Secaucus.

After the presentation from Oakley, the Coast Guard Auxiliary taught Secaucus Boy Scouts about the importance of life jackets. They taught the Secaucus kids that every child under the age of 12 by law must wear a life jacket on a boat. This spring, if all goes well, the Secaucus Cub Scout/Boy Scout troop may be invited onto Boy Scouts of North Jersey boats, based out of Bayonne.

Secaucus Boy Scouts/Cub Scouts meet every Thursday at 4 p.m. in the basement of the Roman Catholic church in Secaucus.

The Secaucus Boy Scouts will next serve a pancake breakfast Sunday, Feb. 12 from 8:30 am to 12:30 at the Masonic Temple of Secaucus 1422 Paterson Plank Road. $8 for adult, free for kids 8 and under. Come support local kids and get a free breakfast.

Related: Meet Strobe, Secaucus Police Dept.'s First Police Canine (May 2021)