Marshall STEM designed the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Career Fair on April 10 to excite possible recruits about applying for jobs in the field of security, military and special investigations. But two service animals stole the show and attracted large crowds to receive pats and educate high school students at the same time.
Trooper, a thoroughbred police horse, joined Finley, a Yellow Labrador Retriever, in demonstrating the variety of careers available in public safety. Although Trooper could not enter the building due to his size, students still pet him as he stood in the front parking lot. Finley fielded the students returning inside from meeting Trooper as she tried to steal a tennis ball from K9 handler Gerli Flores.
“[Finley] is loving it [here],” Flores said as he deterred Finley from jumping on him. “She normally doesn’t get this kind of attention, especially at work and even at home.”
Flores said having Finley available for students to pet makes it easier to attract an audience of students whom he can talk about his career to.
“[Students] just want to come and pet [Finley], but the moment you start explaining to them about the task and the job, they seem to be more interested,” Flores said. “They begin to realize this is a cool job to have.”
K9 handler Joe Bagnall left his German Shorthaired Pointer named Hulk at the Bealeton kennel where the dogs live, but he handed out cards with different security dogs on them.
“Finley loves working for her tennis ball and has the affection of many travelers,” Finley’s card reads.
On the other side of the threshold, Trooper stomped and snorted as students crowded around his head to pet him. On top of him, state trooper TC Gordon spoke to the crowd about the importance of Trooper’s duties.
Despite being an obsolete use of transportation for a police department, Gordon said Trooper assists with crowd control at large protests or marches.
“You don’t do [crowd control] as often as regular patrol, so our main purpose is to make sure people can exercise their first amendment rights,” Gordon said. “We have to make sure people are protected. If there are opposing groups, we have to make sure both people can be heard.”
Gordon said Trooper was particularly useful after the Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup against the Las Vegas Golden Knights.
“There were people partying in the streets, and we needed an ambulance to get through,” Gordon said. “We needed the horses to get people to make a path.”
Because people are naturally attracted to animals, Gordon said a police officer riding a horse seems more friendly than a typical police officer.
“We’re a lot more approachable,” Gordon said. “People will come up and talk to us and interact with us.”
The Criminal Justice and Public Safety Career Fair took place through second and fourth period.