When Jerry Roman, director of the Cook County Sheriff’s K9 unit and Tails of Redemption program, traveled to Brevard County in August 2019 to bring home Zilly, he and his team saw something in the dog.
Zilly has been with Roman ever since.
Seven years later, Zilly sat calm and steady inside the Cook County Sheriff’s Mental Health Transition Center on Chicago’s South Side, his vest on, ready to graduate, as he and his handler prepared to receive something neither of them had when they first met: a state certification that they helped build.
On Wednesday, April 22, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart and Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board (ILETSB) Director Keith Calloway hosted a graduation ceremony for the first therapy K9 team to complete a new statewide crisis response certification. It’s not only the first of its kind in Illinois, it’s also the first in the nation to set a formal standard for law enforcement therapy dogs.
“The crisis response certification program is a partnership between ILETSB and the Sheriff’s office,” Sophia Ansari, director of public relations and communications for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.
The milestone was years in the making, born from shelter dogs and a sheriff’s office that believed a badge didn’t have to mean only enforcement.
“Sheriff Dart is so supportive and understands and realizes and recognizes the need beyond just enforcement,” Roman said.
After returning from Brevard County — a Florida district with a well-developed therapy dog program — Roman implemented some of the tips learned from them, enhancing the Cook County program. He and his team had already trained their first therapy dog, Joey, who was placed at the Cook County Jail’s 911 call center. Others followed. The demand was immediate.
“When we got back from our training, after getting certified initially with Brevard County, we hit almost 75 assignments in that two and a half, three months that we were here,” Roman said.
Seventy-five deployments in less than three months. Peer support. The state’s attorney’s office. Child advocacy units. The need was undeniable.
“We knew there was a need,” Roman said. “We knew we would need more.”
All the new K-9 therapy dogs in the graduating class came from the program’s Cicero shelter and then through Tails of Redemption, each one passing through the therapy certification program before earning a vest and a purpose.
The program, which Roman oversees, was originally launched after Sheriff Dart tasked his team with figuring out why so many dogs were being surrendered and why shelter populations kept climbing.
“It wasn’t always just a bad dog,” Roman said. “Sometimes it was financial reasons — food, low-cost vetting, vaccinations, shots, those types of things. Other times it was poor choice. They had selected the wrong kind of dog. Other times it was a training issue.”
The office responded with pet food pantries, training resources, and community outreach. At its peak, nearly 900 families came through and received food for the month until the next pantry event hosted through a partnership with Rescue Pack, he said.
Zilly, meanwhile, kept working. He just turned eight on April 1st. He has logged a couple thousand deployments.
“I spend more time with Zilly than my coworkers and family,” Roman said, smiling.
When Zilly’s vest goes on, the dog who once couldn’t sit still becomes something else — quiet, focused, present.
“Once we’re working and he has his vest on, he knows our time is now,” Roman said. “We’re not barking. We’re not running. We’re not chasing. We’re being quiet. He sits for petting. He enjoys all of that.”
From Chicago streets to Kendall County: Snow’s story
Deputy Stewart Blouin came to therapy dog work through a career change and a conversation.
A lateral move from the Chicago Police Department, Blouin joined the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office in 2021. Within two years, he moved from patrol to community policing — and started thinking about what that could really mean.
“I came up with the idea from another officer from another department to get the therapy K9,” Blouin said. “I pitched it to the sheriff, and lo and behold, they actually went for it.”
Snow — a calm, white dog with light tan markings and a talent for falling asleep mid-pet — has been Blouin’s partner since July 2024. Together, they’ve worked car shows, school visits, and trauma response calls. Snow doesn’t discriminate. He’s equally at ease with a grieving family and a crowd of curious kids.
His secret weapon? Treats.
“The most unique thing with Snow is Snow is very calm,” Blouin said. “He’s very relaxed. He’ll actually sleep while you’re petting him. He’s very motivated, like most dogs, with treats, and that’s really the best way to get him to be your best friend — is to kind of bribe him with a treat immediately, and he’ll be your best friend immediately.”
For Blouin, the work has changed how people see him — and how he sees his job.
“For me, it’s very rewarding, because everybody loves Snow,” he said. “Half the time they don’t even know who I am, which is a good thing, because now that breaks the ice as far as talking to law enforcement.”
A standard that will outlast the ceremony
Sheriff Dart has watched the program grow from a single dog at a 911 center into something he didn’t fully anticipate — a statewide model.
“We now have, I think it’s 11 therapy dogs that are out to different agencies,” Dart said. “We’re planning on having about eight to 10 new therapy dogs in a year that we’re going to be training, that we’ll be sending out as well.”
The reach, he said, extends far beyond Cook County — and the cost to taxpayers is minimal.
“This will have such an amazing impact all around the county and all around the state, and at virtually no expense to the taxpayers because we get so many donations that help us with this program,” Dart said.
He was quick to credit the people doing the daily work.
“I can’t thank Jerry and the rest of the folks who run this program,” Dart said. “They do all the heavy lifting. They’re amazing. They’re brilliant. They’re the ones that come up with so many of these ideas, and the handlers and the dogs themselves are the star of the show.”
For Roman, the graduation wasn’t just a ceremony. It was a way to extend the reach of what he and Zilly have been doing since 2019.
“In addition to just graduating with these guys, we are now going to be able to assist other communities that don’t have a therapy dog right now,” Roman said. “In times of crisis, they’ll be able to contact us. We’ll be able to bring the dogs out. Everybody knows what to do, and we’re able to take that off their plate. So we become another resource that’s deployable.”
The graduating class has committed to working together at least once a month — rotating through different venues so every handler knows how every dog operates, so that when a crisis call comes in, the response is seamless.
“It’s more unified,” Roman said. “It looks better. It’s better put together, better training.”
Illinois is now the first state in the country to set a formal standard for law enforcement therapy K9 teams. The next class is scheduled for July 2026.
Zilly, for his part, seemed unbothered by the history being made around him. He sat quietly beside Roman, vest on, ready for whatever came next.
The Cook County Sheriff’s Tails of Redemption program is based at the Mental Health Transition Center (MHTC) at the Cook County Jail in Chicago, Illinois.
Members of the public interested in supporting the “Tails” program can access its Amazon wishlist with items needed for the dogs being trained in its care by visiting the Tails of Redemption website and clicking the “support” heart icon at the bottom right of the page.