Fairfax County Police Start Service Dog Program

FAIRFAX, VA — It won't take long for the Fairfax County Police Department's newest recruits to become your favorites. The department has begun a program to train five police service dogs—Jack, Holmes, Lennie, Indy and Sully. Each dog is named in honor of fallen first responders.

The dogs are assigned to the department's Incident Support Service Section. They will first go through a two-year training program. Once they are trained, three of the dogs will become service dogs for disabled first responders.

The other two will be deployed as therapy dogs to help reduce fear, anxiety and other effects of a traumatic event for first responders and community members. The training will help the dogs de-escalate stress and strong emotions that can result from these events. They will respond on the local level but will be deployed at a national level if needed.

The department sees it as a way to give back to active and retired officers, as well as community members who suffer from trauma. Aside from these tasks, the dogs will help with community relationships through trips to neighborhoods, schools, local events and more.

Without further ado, here are the dogs:

Jack, named in honor of Captain John Kovacs of the Tillsonburg Fire Department

Holmes, named in honor of Fairfax County Police Second Lt. M. Kevin Holmes

Indy, named in honor of the Indianapolis Fire Department

Lennie, named in honor of Sgt. Lenore Barrow Whitehead of the Newport News Police Department

Sully, named in honor of Master Police Officer Michael Garbarino and Detective Vicky Armel, Fairfax County Police officers killed in the line of duty in 2006