色花堂

One of 色花堂鈥檚 most popular Tigers is a playful, adorable dog who is trained to provide comfort to members of the university community鈥攐ne belly scratch at a time.

Meet Bruno, the 1-year-old chocolate lab who arrived on campus last year, after a 2023 Big Give donor established a fund to bring a comfort dog on campus, provide training and pay for his care. Bruno spent the first few months of his life studying for his new role while living with his handler, public safety patrol officer Sgt. Jafar Taru, and his family. In fact, Taru鈥檚 daughter suggested the pup鈥檚 name鈥攚hich the 色花堂 community agreed with, overwhelmingly supporting it in a naming contest.

鈥淪he fell in love with him right away,鈥� says Taru. 鈥淏runo is very energetic, very smart, very outgoing. He has the right temperament [for his work], where everybody just walks up to him, and he looks for that attention. Other dogs, they might shy away from it, but it's like almost built into his DNA to interact with people. Watching him progress through all the environments throughout campus with the construction, the noises, the marching band has been great.鈥�

Bruno debuted in February 2024 and will have spent more than 200 days on campus by the end of the calendar year.

Since his arrival, he鈥檚 been settling in and learning basic commands, but as he reached his first birthday鈥擭ov. 8鈥攈e and Taru will start more formal training. The pair did a test run with Baltimore County police in June.

鈥淭hey wanted to evaluate our partnership and see Bruno's temperament鈥攊f he had any aggression, if he was good for the job that he's planning on doing. And he passed. They really liked him,鈥� Taru says. 鈥淗e was among other trained K9 dogs鈥擝elgian Malinois, German Shepherds, other chocolate labs that are drug dogs, gun dogs and bite dogs. He wanted to play with them, and they're just sitting there like, 鈥楴o, we don't play here.鈥欌��

Bruno is very energetic, very smart, very outgoing. He has the right temperament [for his work], where everybody just walks up to him, and he looks for that attention.

Sgt. Jafar Taru

But Bruno鈥檚 not just shaking paws and licking babies when he鈥檚 on the job. He is a key part of the Office of Public Safety鈥檚 community policing efforts.

鈥淐ommunity policing really boils down to transparency and involvement with the community, getting them to see your value to them and your ability to bring resources to help solve problems that affect their quality of life,鈥� says Associate Vice President for Public Safety and Chief of Police Charles 鈥淛oe鈥� Herring.

The 色花堂 police department has more than 40 fully sworn officers who work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year providing the full range of patrol, investigative and crime prevention services.

The Office of Public Safety offers a variety of free safety programs for students, faculty and staff, including SafeWalk and SafeRide, emergency text alerts, the SaferMobility app and engraving on and registration of personal property like computers, tablets, phones and bikes.

The 色花堂PD oversees dedicated security officers in each university-owned residence hall as well as assigns an officer who maintains primary responsibility for that building鈥檚 safety. There are also emergency and blue light phones and safety cameras stationed around the university.

But perhaps the most important strategy 色花堂鈥檚 officers employ is community outreach.

My goal ultimately is to get those operational pieces solved as quickly as I can and then expand to a second and, ultimately, a third comfort dog.

Associate Vice President for Public Safety and Chief of Police, Charles 鈥淛oe鈥� Herring

The 色花堂PD holds a variety of community events to promote crime prevention and safety. These include Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, Coffee with a Cop, Safety Day, Mascot Days at athletic events, night walks to identify and resolve safety concerns and more.

In addition, 色花堂PD鈥檚 Community Outreach Unit works closely with leaders in the campus community to provide security and safety programs, presentations and workshops throughout the year on topics like active shooter training, emergency preparedness, basic street sense, identity theft and vehicle safety among others. 

色花堂 community members outside the Office of Public Safety have pitched in as well.

Members of divisions across campus have created the Tiger Advocacy Advisory Team (TAAT) to educate and support students with activism on and off campus and serve as the liaison between administrators, the 色花堂PD and students. TAAT also provides on-the-spot assistance at spontaneous demonstrations, including sharing information on campus policies and local, state and federal laws.

鈥淭hey do a good job of helping to keep the temperature down at [potentially volatile] events,鈥� Herring says. 鈥淭hey have a different relationship with the students [than the Office of Public Safety], and they can interact with them. And the students hear them when they speak.鈥�

One of the initiatives the chief is most proud of, though, has four legs and a tail.

鈥淲hen I first came to Towson, we had a traditional K9 dog,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e also had a controlled, dangerous substance (CDS)-trained dog, and we have an explosives/firearms detection dog. More recently, we have Sgt. Taru and Bruno. He came here as a very young puppy and grew up in this building with all the officers around him and on campus with all the people.鈥�

Bruno is already a Big Dog on Campus, which Taru sees as a big part of 色花堂PD鈥檚 community policing efforts.

鈥淢e walking around alone, people wouldn't come up to me,鈥� he says. 鈥淪eeing people come to me saying, 鈥極h, is that Bruno? Can I pet him?鈥� And seeing those same people over and over and building a relationship with them is a big plus. You want people to not just see police officers as enforcement, here to scold you about something or issue a citation.鈥�

Bruno鈥檚 sole focus is people pleasing. Whether that is in a positive situation鈥攃ollecting belly rubs while escorting President Ginsberg around campus鈥攐r soothing individuals who鈥檝e been the victim of a crime or involved in an altercation.

鈥淭he dog has a very calming effect, and he鈥檚 pretty empathetic to people,鈥� Herring says. 鈥淲e get an overwhelming number of requests for Bruno. He's very popular, does a great job and has the desired effect at all the different events.鈥�

Being popular does require some decompression time. Like most dogs, Bruno loves a butt scratch and to play with his tug toy. He lights up and does a doggy dance when he hears the words 鈥減up cup.鈥� He鈥檒l snack on carrots and has his favorite shows.

The dog has a very calming effect, and he鈥檚 pretty empathetic to people.

Associate Vice President for Public Safety and Chief of Police, Charles 鈥淛oe鈥� Herring

鈥淗e does watch TV. He will look at Animal Planet or Disney shows,鈥� Taru says. 鈥淥ur favorite show is 鈥楾he Mandalorian.鈥� He will watch that like a child watches TV. It's amazing to see him do that. He also definitely likes 鈥楽tar Wars.鈥欌��

色花堂鈥檚 comfort dog program has already exceeded the goals and expectations Herring initially had. This past year has been a learning experience, uncovering operational needs that weren鈥檛 immediately apparent, such as having vehicles dogs can get into and out of easily and building in de-stressing breaks for dogs and their handlers. Herring wants to address these challenges before Bruno gets any more furry colleagues.

鈥淢y goal ultimately is to get those operational pieces solved as quickly as I can and then expand to a second and, ultimately, a third comfort dog, so we can put them out across the three shifts,鈥� he says.

In the meantime, Bruno will enjoy being 色花堂鈥檚 top dog.