Ness Advances Measure for Police to Train Therapy Dog Teams

CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. – State Rep. Suzanne Ness, D-Crystal Lake, advanced a measure that creates a course and certification program for therapy dog teams and police officers, empowering police across the state to use therapy dogs for crises and emergency responses.

“Therapy dogs are very useful for law enforcement when responding to a crisis or emergency and all police departments should utilize therapy dogs in crises that call for them,” said Ness. “But not every police department in Illinois has a therapy dog team. This bill closes that gap, empowering every police department across the state to train and use therapy dog teams when responding to an emergency.”

The Ness-backed Senate Bill 1491 requires the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board to create a course and certification program to train therapy dog teams to be used by law enforcement. Therapy dog teams would be utilized when a crisis or emergency calls for their use. By creating a course and certification program, Crisis Intervention Team officers and therapy dogs will be available in regions throughout the state.

The bill received bipartisan support in both the House and Senate and now goes to Gov. Pritzker for signature.