Suffolk District Attorney's Office getting dog to comfort victims

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office will soon introduce a new staff member who is heading straight from the classroom to the courtroom.

Tillman III has no plans to take the bar, didn’t attend a proper law school and, when asked by a Newsday reporter to speak, offered up a one-syllable response: “Ruff.”

Nevertheless, this young prodigy with a name fit for a monarch has all the training and qualifications necessary to fill a new role alongside Assistant District Attorney Melissa Grier of the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Bureau. Tillman will apply his young lifetime of training as a Canine Companions facility dog to help abuse victims navigate the traumatic process of telling their stories in court.

“Dealing with victims, specifically child sex victims, to have a dog there to distract them, refocus them, or just give them comfort … can really help the interview,” Grier said from the Canine Companions Northeast Training Center in Medford last week. “It helps justice gets served for what happened to them.”

While Grier and Tillman met just last week, the journey to unite them began nearly two years ago, when the Labrador-golden retriever mix was born at the Canine Companions headquarters in Santa Rosa, California. He has been training to become a certified facility dog ever since, learning over 40 commands designed to make life a little bit easier for the humans he will interact with. It costs Canine Companions, which is funded entirely through donations, more than $50,000 to train each dog.

Apprentice trainer Alexis Dowling spent the past six months working directly with Tillman and now she is among the trainers helping Grier and seven other human partners expected to graduate the program Friday.

“It’s just about training the person and getting them ready to handle the dog,” Dowling said of the two-week program, that includes lectures from other experts. 

Grier first applied for a Canine Companions facility dog about nine months ago, beginning a five-step application process that included interviews and home and work inspections to determine eligibility, client services program manager Jessica Reiss said.

Tillman is one of four dogs in last week’s graduating class headed to work in law enforcement environments, with two dogs going to police departments in Pennsylvania and one traveling to a Maryland department. The Medford facility has trained about 30 dogs currently working for law enforcement agencies in the Northeast region, which spans from Maine to Virginia, Reiss said.

Tillman was matched with Grier on the second day of her training in a decision based largely on his personality and temperament and how Canine Companions staff believes he will interact with abuse victims. On the third night, he went home to spend the night with Grier and her boyfriend for the first time.

“Tillman is very sweet. He's gentle … snugly,” Reiss said, adding that he has been very good staying on the floor during training and would avoid jumping in the laps of abuse victims who might not want that. “He’s not overly intrusive.”

In addition to being the only facility dog working in the district attorney’s Riverhead office, the hope is Tillman will also accompany victims in the courtroom at trial, something that would need to be determined by judges on a case-by-case basis. Grier said her fellow prosecutors and personnel at the courthouse are excited the dog will soon be seen roaming the halls.

“Everyone’s been asking me to send them pictures,” she said on her third day working with Tillman.

On that morning, Grier and her fellow trainees were practicing some of the more common commands they might use. The needs of the human partner vary.

Joining law enforcement in this month’s class was a longtime Canine Companions puppy raiser who recently had a stroke and will now be assisted by a dog of her own and a crash victim in a wheelchair receiving his second dog from the facility after his first was retired due to age. For them, learning the push command was particularly important, as the dogs used it to open doors.

Each of the human partners are expected to make a long-term commitment, so it’s anticipated Tillman will be a regular for the next decade at the courthouse, where Grier has worked since 2009. Reiss will check in on Grier and Tillman periodically, including a recertification process, until the dog is retired.

Grier, who grew up with dogs but hadn’t yet raised one as an adult, is excited to see Tillman get to work. She is most happy for the children for whom she aims to deliver justice.

“Coming to court and the district attorney's office can be another traumatic experience for them over what had they've already experienced,” Grier said. “Hopefully seeing a dog just puts a smile on their face and gives them the bravery I know they have.”

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.