The Highland Park Police Department welcomed a highly-trained walker hound home on Sunday after the dog completed training in Florida. | Provided Photo

The Highland Park Police Department’s newest member arrived on Sunday — their first community service and wellness dog, whose goal will be to help reduce stress.

The highly-trained walker hound arrived in Highland Park on Sunday with police officers Mike Lodesky and Darren Graff.

The “pawfficer” will serve in a critical capacity assisting with bringing comfort and support to individuals in need who reach out to the police department for help, the village said.

The dog’s service will primarily focus on situations where he can reduce stress and fear in individuals who have been victims of a crime or other emergency situation.

He will also be out and about in the community, stopping by schools and community events.

Students at North Shore School District 112 schools and Highland Park High School were invited last month to submit name suggestions for the dog.

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Officials said the name options will soon be presented to the dog next to plates of treats, and the dog will choose a treat and a name before he begins his training with Highland Park officers.

The dog was trained free of charge through the Paws & Stripes College, a program of the Brevard County, Florida Sheriff’s Office.

The program represents a second chance for both the dogs, who are all shelter rescues, and carefully selected and trained county jail inmates, who serve as trainers.

City officials said the trainers work hard to train dogs in voice commands, hand signals and other obedience skills, in addition to advanced training to serve as therapy dogs to victims and individuals in crisis.

“We are thrilled to bring our first community resource K9 to Highland Park,” said Highland Park Chief of Police Lou Jogmen.

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“As a department, we are committed to implementing innovative ways to serve our community and enhance our ability to respond compassionately to crises and stressful situations. Our new community service dog will provide critical emotional support to individuals in need and accompany our officers in their visits around the community, engaging with residents of all ages,” Jogmen said.

Ongoing community engagement to build relationships with residents and businesses is one of the city’s primary public safety objectives, officials said.

The addition of a community service dog will augment the police department’s mental health and crisis intervention response toolkit, which includes mental health first aid training for all officers and crisis intervention training for all officers upon completion of two years of service.