Hawk, as a new canine team member of UW-Whitewater Police Services Department did solemnly swear to serve the community and uphold the law.

With a paw dipped in ink, Hawk left his footprint on a formal document during his inauguration ceremony on Jan. 31 in the UW-Whitewater University Center.

Dozens of students, police officers, campus administrative officials packed the room to get a glance at Hawk.

“The event was really exciting,”  freshman Ariana Amys said. “When I first heard about it, I texted all of my friends to say, ‘Hey, guess what I get to go to next week?’”

Amys said she is proud to see Hawk welcomed into the Warhawk family, noting that he was “cute and really excited to be here.”

The arrival of Hawk has been a long time coming.

“Bringing on Hawk to our police team here is a culmination of several years of research and support from the university and our community,” UW-Whitewater Police Chief Matthew Kiederlen said.

Hawk, an Australian Cattle dog, was trained to locate explosive devices and to obey UW-W’s police officers. One of those officers is his owner and partner of the law, Officer Kelsey Servi.

“He’s a safety tool for us,” Servi said. “Mainly to clear large-scale events of an potential explosive devices beforehand.”

Servi traveled to Texas in December 2016 to complete a police canine unit training program with Hawk.

Hawk received his name after the university made a campus survey  available to students who voted on the name.

When the pair are not on the job, Servi and Hawk live together at home. Servi and her husband, Cal, campus police detective, own two other dogs at home and have a young child to care for as well.

“We spend every second of every day together,” Servi said. “He’s part of the pack at home, he fits right in.”

Servi says Hawk loves attention. Servi also added that the pair operates off the Wells residence halls on campus and that students are encouraged to come visit.

Kiederlen thanked Vice Chancellor of Administrative Affairs Jeff Arnold and Chancellor Beverly Kopper for their support of the campus safety initiative.

Chancellor Kopper said she is deeply grateful for campus police officers, noting that the job of protecting the community keeps officers busy around the clock.