BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — There's a new four-legged police officer at Bloomsburg University in Columbia County.
Rush is the university's new bomb-sniffing K-9. He's a 1-year-old Belgian Malinois.
"We usually use Pennsylvania State Police for their explosives detection K-9, and we also use Geisinger hospital, but for Rush, I just thought, like, why not have one of our own that's here and easily deployable just in case they're not available?" said Eli Middaugh, patrolman at Bloomsburg University Police Department.
The university's police department was awarded a $7,500 grant for Rush through the United States Police K-9 Association.
Before he can start sniffing for explosives, Rush and Patrolman Middaugh must undergo 22 weeks of training, which starts at the end of the month.
"It's going to be explosive-detection training, and then he's also going to do the patrol training for tracking, suspect apprehension, and he'll be on patrol with me then," said Middaugh.
Bloomsburg University holds lots of events on campus throughout the year, many of which draw large crowds. Having Rush on campus is crucial for everyone's safety.
"Similar to in our close-circuit TVs that have a pretty robust footprint all across our campuses, but I think a K-9 being right here, the time element is important to have that asset right here on our footprint to serve and protect our campus," said Leo Sokoloski, Director of Commonwealth University Police.
"For him to be here and just make sure everybody's safe, that's the biggest thing: campus safety, and he'll also be available for the whole region, not just here," said Middaugh.
Once Rush is done with his training, he'll be able to sniff out 33 explosive odors.
"The climate of explosive bomb threats, hoaxes, swatting, are huge, and being able to deploy an asset immediately or quickly to do a search and perhaps get back to business, get back to class without prolonged and protracted times of being out of a building or out of school, I think is very important today," said Sokoloski.
The Bloomsburg University Police Department is accepting donations for Rush's training. You can find more information here.