The Ottawa Police Service now has a new member to help ease victims of intimate partner violence. K9 Nelson, a two-year old black Labrador, is specially trained to support victims and provide emotional support, according to Roxana Manoiu, his handler and a risk navigator with the Victim Services Unit. The dog can help when victims meet with the risk navigator team, when they have interviews with the Ottawa police’s intimate partner violence unit or they want to make a report, Manoiu said. “We let them pet him, introduce him. Just that initial interaction can offer that sense of relief,” she said. To be good at his job, Nelson needs to have a certain temperament. “I think just his calmness, as you can see, he’s just very, very calm. He knows when he’s working. He’s a very hard worker and he loves to impress,” she said. K9 Nelson’s training started as a puppy before going to “Puppy University” as a one-year-old at National Service Dogs. Nelson also works with a secondary handler, who takes him into the community. “Ideally, we would be using Nelson to attend community meetings or to some of our partners such as our violence against women shelters,” said Melanie Winwood, senior advisor for Violence against Women with the Ottawa Police Service. “For their staff and their residents to be aware of these services that we do offer for victims, when they do want to come in and report, or if they’re involved with the police service, to know that there is support available to them.” Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs officially awarded K9 Nelson with a badge at a ceremony on May 23 along with new police recruits. “He walked the stage like all the other recruits, although he didn’t go up the stairs,” said Manoiu.
