Dogs for Officer Wellness

Kenneth is the preeminent subject matter expert on the use of professionally trained dogs to address police officer wellness. He presented on his research in this area at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Officer Safety and Wellness Symposium and was invited to present at the larger, more prestigious Annual Conference due to the overwhelming positive feedback received and interest in this area by police executives.

As a lifelong dog-lover, he is also deeply committed to advancing research that improves both the lives of police officers and the communities they serve. Early in his academic career, he seized upon an opportunity to focus on both these interests.

Through his role in the NYPD, he became involved with a non-profit group, Puppies Behind Bars, that uses incarcerated individuals to train service dogs to help both combat veterans and first responders who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (click here for more information on Puppies Behind Bars). During his first year in his doctoral program at John Jay College, Puppies Behind Bars began offering professionally trained dogs to address officer wellness. Ken approached one of his professors, Dr. Eric Piza who is now the director of crime analysis initiatives at Northeastern University, with an idea for a program evaluation. Together, they conducted an exploratory study and published the findings in the article “Police Officer’s Best Friend?: An Exploratory Analysis of the Effect of Service Dogs on Perceived Organizational Support in Policing” in The Police Journal: Theory Practice and Principles (click here for the journal article or here for free access to a post-production print). This exploratory study formed the basis for his doctoral dissertation, which seeks to extend its findings and employ more rigorous methods.

Under the supervision of his dissertation committee chairperson, world-renowned wildlife criminologist Dr. Gohar Petrossian, Kenneth evaluated the effectiveness of the NYPD’s wellness dog program, which is embedded in the agency’s employee assistance program (EAP). He conducted two separate evaluations: (a) a clustered randomized controlled trial and (b) a quasi-experimental design. 

The study implemented strategies that are commonly used in therapeutic interventions, where a treatment, in this case the dogs, is administered to one group and the same intervention without the treatment is given to the control group. These techniques, while commonplace in medical evaluations, are exceedingly rare in police studies. Both groups were then tested for a variety of effects, including willingness to use and/or recommend the EAP to peers and perceived organizational support. Kenneth used both advanced quantitative analytical techniques and qualitative methods, including open-field content analysis and observation.

The findings of his dissertation research lay the groundwork for future studies on the use of professionally trained dogs in policing.  Kenneth intends to continue to rigorously research this promising strategy for addressing both officer wellness and community satisfaction with the police. 

Please click here for a copy of Ken's dissertation.