“No one is going to confuse her for a working K-9,” Becker says. “That just makes her more approachable and easier to love — exactly what you want in a therapy dog.”

Becker, who has been with the department since 2017, specializes in sex crimes investigations at UCF. The duo will now also respond to any case involving Central Florida’s Sexual Assault Response Team (SART). This team includes detectives, advocates, nurses, Child Protective Services and any other entity that responds to sexual assaults in the Central Florida area.

While other law enforcement agencies may utilize therapy dogs for cases they investigate, SART didn’t have their own designated dog they could call in — until Luna.

“The idea is that Luna and I will be used by other agencies if they have a sex crimes case where a dog may be needed but not accessible,” Becker says. “In the past, it was difficult finding a therapy dog that could come in at a moment’s notice, but now we’ll be readily available for those calls.”

Becker also noted that some therapy dog handlers may not be trained to work with sexual assault survivors — something Becker has been doing since she joined UCFPD’s Criminal Investigations Division in August 2020.

“These dogs are great. They’re cute, they’re cuddly, and they give victims a lot of comfort,” Becker says. “But they’re also tools detectives can use to help build and solve cases.”

French Bulldogs are also the new top dogs, according to the American Kennel Club. They were recently named the most popular breed in the United States, ending the Labrador Retriever’s 31-year reign. This doesn’t come as a surprise to Becker, who has three other Frenchies at home.

“Frenchies were literally bred to sit on your lap and sleep,” Becker says. “Temperament-wise, they’re the perfect therapy dog and they’re just so cute!”

Luna will join fellow UCFPD therapy dog Chipper, a four-year-old yellow Labrador Retriever. But don’t worry — Becker says there’s no bad blood between the two competing breeds, who were both recently .

Although she’s still in training, Luna is expected to complete her certification at the beginning of 2024. In the meantime, she’ll continue to participate in training classes and get “paws-on” experience at community events at UCF.

Paisley is a two-year-old Treeing Walker Coonhound who is UCFPD’s first-ever therapy dog. She will help ease stress and comfort victims of violent crime during interviews and interactions with police.

Paisley, who is paired with UCFPD Detective Matt Scott, is the department’s latest effort to create an environment where victims of crimes such as sexual assault and stalking feel comfortable reporting to law enforcement. UCFPD believes that it is among the first campus police departments in the country with an in-house therapy dog.

“Paisley is going to be able to provide unconditional love, and victims will hopefully be able to get to a level of ease where they’re able to just disclose what occurred to them. Then we can go out and do our jobs,” Det. Scott said.

Paisley and Det. Scott are graduates of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office’s Paws & Stripes College.

The idea for the program came from three-time UCF alumnus Jessie Holton, formerly a Special Victims Unit Agent with BCSO. The Marine veteran drew from his personal experience with a therapy dog for a doctoral class project and proposed the idea of a therapy dog program to assist child-abuse victims to his boss, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey.

That successful model evolved into Paws & Stripes, which now pairs shelter rescue dogs with trained inmates who teach them basic obedience and commands.  After that socialization, dogs are paired with law enforcement officers, and the dog-human teams complete a 40-hour course about the do’s and don’ts of using a therapy dog in police interviews.

To date, more than 300 dogs have graduated and been saved by Paws & Stripes. The dogs go on to serve their communities and provide support to people who have experienced trauma.

Next up for Paisley and Det. Scott is completing the requirements for becoming a nationally-registered therapy dog team. Once the team receives that certification, Paisley will start to be deployed to help Knights in need.

The Division of Student Development and Enrollment Services invites you to participate in It’s On Us Week of Action on October 24-27.

It’s On Us is a national awareness-raising campaign that encourages everyone to play an active part in preventing interpersonal violence [#ITSONUS], which includes sexual assault, relationship abuse, stalking and sexual harassment.

We will have giveaways such as T-shirts, rally towels, tumblers and more. There will also be a drawing for an It’s On Us prize pack, which includes gift cards and all the giveaways from the week.

Throughout the week, UCF students, faculty and staff will be able to sign the pledge to prevent interpersonal violence at UCF, learn more about resources for those impacted by this behavior, and learn how to prevent interpersonal violence through being an active bystander.

The schedule is as follows:

For each event students participate in, you will get an entry into the drawing for the prize pack, at the end of the week. View flyer, here.

For more information, contact Tim Donovan, Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities, at: timothy.donovan@ucf.edu.