Meet one of Palm Springs Police's newest recruits: A loveable lab named Finley

In January, the Palm Springs Police Department welcomed its newest — and furriest — recruit: a lab retriever named Finley.

But unlike most recruits, Finley won't be solving crimes or making arrests. Instead, he has several important jobs that he is uniquely suited for, including providing emotional support to staff and serving as a department ambassador to the community.

Lt. Gustavo Araiza said the latter role will see Finley dispatched with officers to community events, especially those involving kids.

"There's a lot of anti-police sentiment out there," Araiza said. "So this helps bridge that gap when it comes to community relations."

Finley, who is about a-year-and-a-half old, came to the department from the organization Guide Dogs of the Desert, which was originally training him to be a guide dog that would be paired with someone who is blind.

However, it was eventually discovered that Finley was allergic to grass, which meant he could no longer serve as a seeing eye dog.

But Finley's trainer, former Riverside County Sheriff's Lt. Coby Webb, saw another potential path for him. So she reached out to the Spirit of Blue, an organization dedicated to promoting the safety of police officers and the Palm Springs Police about having the department adopt him as a therapy dog.

When he's not at a public event, Finley spends his days at the police station, where Chief Andy Mills says he seems to gravitate toward "whoever has had the most stress that day."

"His harness squeaks and when you hear a squeak coming down the hall you know he's coming," Araiza said.

At night, Finley lives at the home of the department's records supervisor, where Araiza said he enjoys playing with his adopted siblings.

While Finley is already beloved in the office, having a nearly 100-pound dog around has taken a little getting used to.

"We have to control him a little bit because he does get a little bit aggressive about wanting to be petted," he said. "The dispatcher will be in the middle of a 911 call and all of a sudden he's putting his nose in trying to get some attention."

The department has also learned to keep squeaky toys away from Finley during the work day.

"I was working patrol one day and we heard squeaking over the radio," Araiza said with a laugh.

But while Finley brings plenty of fun and lightheartedness to the station, therapy dogs can also play a vital role in the most serious of situations. Webb said departments with therapy dogs are getting more and more positive feedback about how they can help crime victims when they are present when victims must recount traumatic experiences to police.

"It's changing that interview process for people talking," she said.

Webb said another example of the power of therapy dogs came just last week when the Garden Grove, California Police Department flew two of its therapy dogs to Uvalde, Texas, to help officers who were responding to and investigating the school shooting there.

"They made a humongous difference for the officers while they were doing interviews and inquiry," Webb said. "That just gives you an idea of what these dogs are capable of to make a situation not as traumatic."

On Thursday, Finley was also on hand at the station as the department accepted a $3,500 check from local couple, Renee and Gordon Graham. That money will go toward Guide Dogs of the Desert, Araiza said, so that they can train another guide dog to take Finley's place.

Graham, an attorney who advises police departments about risk, said that while he feels all departments could benefit from getting a therapy dog, the Palm Springs police would be particularly deserving and appreciate of one as the department continues to grieve the loss of two of its own officers in 2017.

On Oct. 8, 2016, Gil Vega, 63, and Lesley Zerebny, 27, died while responding to a domestic disturbance call on Cypress Avenue in Palm Springs when a man opened fire on them with an AR-15 rifle.

"Those wounds for our people still have not healed recently, and this is just one more way means of helping people heal," said Mills. "So that's, that's very meaningful and I wasn't here for [their deaths] but for a lot of the folks that were it's a raw nerve to this day."

Paul Albani-Burgio covers breaking news and the City of Palm Springs. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and via email at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: New therapy dog Finley brings stress relief to Palm Springs police station